2004 Conference Presenter

Martin-Beatus Meier
All-State Orchestra Conductor

Martin-Beatus Meier, a native of Switzerland, pursued his musical training in Berne, Paris and Salzburg. Recipient of the International Mozart Prize for Outstanding Young Conductors, he went on to conduct at major opera houses in Germany, France and Italy, and later at Indiana University and in El Paso, where he served as Artistic Director of the U. of Texas Opera Theatre. Coming to the Pacific Northwest in the 70's, he was for 15 years director of orchestras and opera at Washington State University and music director of the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Spokane Youth Orchestra and the Mid-Columbia Symphony. Among other musical pursuits, he has been active as a chamber music pianist, vocal coach and accompanist, and as a composer. In recent years, the latter vocation (which he has come to regard his primary "raison d'etre") has drawn him away from the concert stage. In 1998 he settled in Port Townsend, a picturesque peninsula town near Admiralty Inlet. Besides composing orchestral, chamber and vocal music, he enjoys exploring island trails along the coast or canyons in the desert Southwest.