Bear Valley Orchestra

Performing at this year's festival...

Carter Nice

Carter Nice

Maestro Nice is celebrating his 25th. Year as Music Director and Conductor of the Bear Valley Music Festival. During his tenure, Carter has conducted over 200 performances of the Bear Valley Symphony and Opera Productions. Only two Music directors have served the Festival during its 40 year History. Maestro John Gosling founded the Festival in 1968.


            Maestro Nice began his music career at the age of 12 as a member of the violin section of the Jacksonville (Florida) Symphony. Nice earned a BM from the Eastman School of Music and a MM from the Manhattan School of Music. During his college years, Carter was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and played with the famed Leopold Stokovski (ck spelling) and the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City.

            Upon leaving school, Nice served as Assistant Conductor and Concertmaster of the Florida Symphony, followed by a year as Chairman of the String Department and Professor of Violin at the University of Oklahoma. An invitation to join the New Orleans Philharmonic as Assistant Conductor and Concertmaster resulted in a 13 year tenure that led to Maestro Nice being offered the Music Director position of the Sacramento Symphony.

            During the 13 years that Maestro Nice served as Music Director of the Sacramento Symphony the orchestra went from a Metropolitan Orchestra with a budget of $500,000 to one of the top Regional Orchestras in the Country with a 4 million dollar budget. At the peak of the Sacramento Symphony activity, the orchestra performed over 160 concerts each season in all of Northern California.

            The Bear Valley Music Festival is unique among American Music Festivals. Many members of the Orchestra have joined Maestro Nice in many years of service to this Alpine Treasure.

 

Post Office Box 5068  |  Bear Valley, CA 95223  |  music@bearvalleymusic.org
Phone: 209.753.2574  |  Toll Free: 800.458.1618  |  Fax: 209.753.2576