Baritone and conductor Cailin Marcel Manson, a Philadelphia native, has enjoyed an international career as an operatic/concert soloist, conductor, and master teacher with many organizations, including the Radio- Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Taipei Philharmonic, Bayerische Staatsoper – Münchner Opernfestspiele, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo, Konservatorium Oslo, and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg.
Mr. Manson has also been a guest cantor and soloist at some of the world’s most famous churches and cathedrals, including Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, and La Madeleine in Paris, San Marco in Venice, Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, San Salvatore in Montalcino, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, and Wieskirche in Steingaden.
Mr. Manson has built a sterling reputation over an extensive 20-year career, encompassing both baritone and tenor repertoire, for his exceptional musicianship, keen dramatic instincts, and vocal flexibility. Critics have praised his performances as “arresting” and “revelatory,” making consistent note of his “ringing projection,” “commanding tone,” (MassLive.com), “lively, original acting skills” (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), and his “ability to bring the internal drama of the music to life” (Scranton Times-Tribune).
Mr. Manson has held positions as Music Director of the Vorarlberger Musikfest, Music Director, and Conductor Laureate of the Chamber Symphony of Atlantic City, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, Chair of Vocal Studies at the Hazleton Conservatory for the Performing Arts, and as Director of Music at The Putney School. He has also served as a member of the faculty of the Vermont Governor’s Institute on the Arts and the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary. Mr. Manson also found and directed the Germantown Institute for the Vocal Arts and the Germantown Concert Chorus. Mr. Manson is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, presenter, panelist, and adjudicator for conventions,
conferences, competitions, and music festivals.
Mr. Manson is currently Associate Professor of Practice in Music and Director of Music Performance at Clark University, Music Director of the Bennington County Choral Society and Music Director of Barn Opera in Vermont, and Music Director of The Keene Chorale in New Hampshire.
A recognized advocate for community-based classical music organizations, Mr. Manson serves on the boards of Choral Arts New England, the Wagner in Vermont Festival, and the Gift Passion Purpose Project. He is a member of the Black Opera Alliance, the International Society of Black Musicians, the International Conductors’ Guild, the League of American Orchestras, Opera America, the American Choral Directors Association, and the National Association of Negro Musicians.
Mr. Manson studied voice performance at Temple University, and opera performance and orchestral conducting at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.