25/26 PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SOUTH PACIFIC IN CONCERT
ROB BERMAN
MARK FLEISCHER
Music Director and Conductor
Director and Executive Producer of Pittsburgh CLO
Rob Berman is an Emmy and Grammy Award winning conductor and music director. For fifteen years he was the music director of Encores!, New York City Center’s acclaimed series of great American musicals in concert, where he conducted over thirty-five productions, including the revival of Into the Woods, which transferred to a Broadway run and for which he received a Grammy Award as co-producer and conductor of the cast recording.
Mark Fleischer serves as the artistic and administrative head of the Pittsburgh CLO, one of the nation’s largest producers of musical theatre. Since his appointment as Executive Producer in June 2020, he has overseen CLO’s artistic vision and producing operations, including the PNC Summer of Musicals, the Kara Cabaret Series, the annual production of A Musical Christmas Carol, and the organization’s expanding new work initiatives. Prior to this role, he served as CLO’s Producing Director (2018–2020) and Associate Artistic Director (2014–2018).
Rob’s other Broadway credits include Bright Star, Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Finian’s Rainbow, The Apple Tree, and Promises, Promises. Rob has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Barbara Cook, as well as the San Francisco and Seattle Symphonies for Audra McDonald and the Pacific Symphony for Kristin Chenoweth. He recently conducted a concert of Oklahoma! at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. For nine years, Rob was music director of the Kennedy Center Honors, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction.
Alongside his producing work, Mark is an accomplished stage director with a career spanning classic theatre, contemporary musicals, and new work development. His directing credits include Sunday in the Park with George—which received seven Dallas Theatre League Awards including Best Direction of a Musical—as well as Passion, A Chorus Line, Ordinary Days, and My Favorite Year. His work in classical theatre includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Hedda Gabler, and The Diary of Anne Frank,
along with numerous world premiere productions and developmental readings across the country. Before joining Pittsburgh CLO, Mark was the Producing Artistic Director of Adirondack Theatre Festival (2007–2014) and the Managing Artistic Director of Plano Repertory Theatre in suburban Dallas (1993–2002). He is a Board Member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, where he chairs the Member Resources Committee, and a member of The Broadway League, serving on its IntraIndustry and Audience Engagement committees. Locally, he serves on the Board of Downtown Neighbors Alliance, reflecting his commitment to Pittsburgh’s civic and cultural life. Mark holds a BA in English Literature and Communication Arts from Austin College and an MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University.
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