Recently praised by the Tanjug News Agency for his “exceptional energy and musicianship”, Maestro Darko Butorac is quickly establishing himself as one of the world’s most sought-after young conductors. Following his debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic in January of 2011 he was invited to both close the 2011 and open the 2012 concert season. In addition to his activities in Belgrade, upcoming concerts this season include debuts with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Neuss, the Rubinstein Philharmonic of Lodz, the Tallin Sinfonietta, as well as the Springfield and Tallahassee Symphonies in the US as a music director candidate. He will make his Vienna Konzerthaus debut in June, 2014.

Within North America, Butorac has been featured as a guest conductor with such orchestras as the Charleston Symphony, the Canton Symphony, Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers, the Montana Lyric Opera and as the Principal Conductor of the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle. Highlights of his guest conducting engagements abroad include the Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt, the Mendoza and Neuquen Symphonies in Argentina, the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, the Slobozhansky Orchestra and the Kharkov Philharmonic in the Ukraine, and annual visits with Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra of Parma as the principal conductor of the Fidenza Opera Festival in Italy.

Butorac was the 2004 Grand Prix laureate of the Fourth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, where he was selected out of 24 competitors from 17 countries. In March 2005, he was invited by the League of American Orchestras to participate in the prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2007, Maestro Butorac has served as the music director of the Missoula Symphony and has propelled the orchestra to a new level of musical achievement, with an expanded repertoire and local premieres of works by established and emerging composers. Butorac and the orchestra have shared the stage with renowned guest artists, including Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie, pianists Stewart Goodyear and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and clarinetist Jon Manasse. An enthusiastic ambassador for classical music, he also produces the award-winning “DownBeat DownLow” podcast with radio personality Leah Lewis.

In 2003, Butorac was awarded a fellowship by David Zinman to study at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival. Upon his return to the festival in 2004, Butorac was named Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Opera Theater Center and worked with Julius Rudel and Arnold Oestman. He has also worked extensively at the Brevard Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Indiana University and the University of Toronto. His principal mentors are David Effron, Jorma Panula, Imre Pallo and David Zinman.

For more information on Butorac, please visit www.darkobutorac.com.