Tucker's first Choral Arts assignment was preparing the Choral Arts Chorus for Beethoven's Missa Solemnis performed with the NSO under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach. He has since prepared the chorus for such conductors as Emil de Cou, John Mauceri, and Rossen Milanov to perform NSO's performances of Orff's Carmina Burana, Handel's Messiah, Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, NSO Pops concerts of music by Danny Elfman from Tim Burton's movies, as well as Rachmaninoff's The Bells for Vassily Sinaisky last spring. He has also prepared large-scale symphonic works for other leading conductors including Peter Schreier, Fabio Mechetti, Daniel Hege, Carl St.Clair, Heiichiro Ohyama, Lanfranco Marcelletti, Jr., and Erich Leinsdorf.
Deeply committed to supporting new music, Tucker programmed during the 2013-2014 season one world premiere, one east coast premiere, one revival of a work Choral Arts commissioned, and 16 company premieres. Prior to his tenure with Choral Arts, Tucker commissioned and premiered more than 30 works from composers such as Ernani Aguiar, Bernard Rands, Steven Stucky, Augusta Read Thomas, Carol Barnett, David Conte, Libby Larsen, and Chen Yi.
In addition to his Choral Arts activities, Tucker is regularly invited to teach, speak, and conduct with a variety of local, national, and international organizations. In 2015, he conducted a festival of singers from Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland for American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in August 2015, and in 2016 will conduct the finale of Classical Movements Serenade Festival. Other recent engagements include teaching at The Performing Arts Institute Summer Camp in Pennsylvania, conducting a male choir of high school and collegiate singers in Boston, MA for ACDA, judging The Music in Our Schools Competition in Hong Kong, China, and speaking at the 2014 Chorus America Conference.
Prior to his engagement with Choral Arts, Tucker was the P.E. Browning Director of Choral Music at Cornell University, where he directed the Men's Glee Club and the Women's Chorus, in addition to overseeing the activities of the Cornell Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Sage Chapel Choir. During his 17-year leadership, the Cornell choirs toured nationally and internationally: Tour highlights included an invitation to appear at the American Choral Director's Association National Conference and a tour to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China. The Cornell choirs collaborated with such acclaimed artists as Anonymous 4, Peter Schreier, and Samite and were featured on NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion."
Updated: September 23, 2015
