Harold Rosenbaum

In 2016, Rosenbaum conducted Roberto Sierra's Missa Latina in a new arrangement he commissioned for choir, soloists, 24 percussion instruments and two pianos.

In 2015 he created "ChoralFest USA - A Celebration of the Diversity of Choral Music in America", an annual marathon concert in NYC designed to showcase talented choral ensembles.

In 2014 he created The Harold Rosenbaum Choral Conducting Institute which sponsors annual multi-day workshops at universities including Columbia University, Wesleyan University, Queens College, and the University at Buffalo.

In 2012 he conducted Haydn's 'The Creation' in Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of Saint Luke's.

From 2010-2013 he was the artistic director of the Society for Universal Sacred Music, which sponsored music festival in NYC.

In 2007 Rosenbaum collaborated with Ennio Morricone and the Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta in concerts performed at the United Nations Headquarters and Radio City Music Hall

In 1988, building on the successes of CNS, he founded a professional choir, the New York Virtuoso Singers, which was developed from an existing group of professional singers which performed for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, where he was choirmaster. In 1993, the young group was invited to be the first-ever guest chorus at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, returning in 2013. Rosenbaum has led NYVS in over 100 concerts,including a tour of Scandinavia. NYVS has premiered over 400 new works by notable contemporary composers, including Luciano Berio, John Harbison, Hans Werner Henze, Louis Andriessen, Shulamit Ran, George Perle, Ernst Krenek, Thea Musgrave, Jonathan Harvey, Arvo Pärt, and Andrew Imbrie.

In 1973, as a graduate student at Queens College, he established his first choir, the Canticum Novum Singers, an amateur ensemble which quickly established a significant presence on the New York City music scene. The reputation and skill of the group has led to numerous tours and choral premieres of works by composers such as Johann Christian Bach, George Benjamin, Luciano Berio, Anton Bruckner, Gabriel Fauré, John Harbison, George Frideric Handel, Ned Rorem, Peter Schickele, and Alfred Schnittke.

In 1968 he matriculated to Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music where he developed a passion for choral music, both classical and contemporary, and was mentored by faculty members Joel Mandelbaum, Saul Novak, and Paul Maynard. In 1972 he graduated with a BA in vocal performance. He continued his graduate studies at Queens, earning an MA in choral conducting in 1974 and an honorary doctorate in 2011.

Harold Rosenbaum (born January 24, 1950) is an American conductor and musician. He is the artistic director and conductor of the New York Virtuoso Singers and the Canticum Novum Singers. The New York Virtuoso Singers appear on over 40 albums on labels including Naxos Records and Sony Classical. He has collaborated extensively with many ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Bang on a Can, Mark Morris Dance Group, Orchestra of Saint Luke's, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Riverside Symphony, and Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Harold Rosenbaum was born in 1950 in Danville, Pennsylvania. In 1951, his family moved to the Bronx, and then to Flushing, Queens. He began studying piano and singing in choirs at an early age. In addition to his musical talents, he had a childhood love of drawing that briefly saw him consider a career in architecture. He was especially inspired by The Lion Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens, a famous Baroque painting he meticulously copied by hand. He attended Flushing High School, graduating in 1967. In the summer before his senior year, he decided to pursue music when he was one of sixteen young singers selected for an intensive summer choral program. Until university, his musical tendencies were towards pop and folk music inspired by famous folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and iconic film singer Mario Lanza.