He is a bassoonist and conductor who comes from a musical family where his mother, Amelia, is a pianist and his father Anthony, is a clarinettist who have both been members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Bernard Garfield, who was a former Principal Bassoon of the Philadelphia Orchestra, graduating in 1979.
He performed as Principal Bassoon with the Pittsburgh Symphony and after graduating he joined the Hague Philharmonic in the Netherlands as solo bassoonist. While in the Netherlands he studied conducting with the conductor Kees Bakels. He remained with that orchestra for three seasons before becoming a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1982, where he now holds the position of Co-Principal Bassoon. He was involved in two lawsuits brought by the second bassoonist, Kathleen Vigilante, in the 1990s which were consolidated and settled out of court in 1996.
As a soloist he has performed with orchestras that include the Hague Philharmonic, the Hilton Head Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Taipei Symphony among others. He has also given a duet performance with his father, the clarinettist Anthony Gigliotti.
Performing frequently as a chamber musician he is a member of The Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble and has played on the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series and the Saratoga Springs Chamber Music Series.
As a conductor he has worked with Luis Biava, who was The Philadelphia Orchestra’s resident conductor, as well as performing as a guest conductor with the Bourgas State Opera Philharmonic, Pazardjick Symphony Orchestra, the Pleven Symphony Orchestra and the Plovdiv State Opera Philharmonic which are all based in Bulgaria. He has also conducted the Luzerne Music Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.
In 2005 he became Music Director of the Low Merion Symphony, he was a finalist for the Assistant Conductor position with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2007 and since 2011 has been Resident Conductor at the Philadelphia International Music Festival.
Recordings he has performed on include Conradin Kreutzer.August Klughardt: Kreutzer Septett/Klughardt Quintett and Soloists from the Orchestra Play Chambermusic by Residentie Orkest and Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6″Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra.
In the field of musical education he is the Bassoon Coach for the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and has taught at the College of New Jersey, New School of Music and the Saratoga School of Orchestral Studies. He has coached and taught privately and given master classes nationally and internationally.
His wife, Holly Blake, is a Bassoonist and Contrabassoonist with The Philadelphia Orchestra.
He conducts here….
Sources:
- http://www.pomusicians.org/mark-gigliotti.html
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/mark-gigliotti/
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/04/20/anthony-and-mark-gigliotti/473d484a-7a7e-409e-8fef-0722c4a3b99c/
- http://www.osborne-conant.org/excuse.htm
- https://pceconcerts.org/meet-the-musicians/
- http://pazardzik-symphony.com/en/program-in-september/
- http://pazardzik-symphony.com/en/program-in-september/
- http://www.oce.nysed.gov/nysssa/orchestra/faculty/mark-gigliotti-bassoon