Charles Bruffy

Charles Bruffy is a one of the most well-known choral conductors in the United States, respected and renowned for his fresh and passionate interpretations of standards of the choral repertory and for championing new music.

He is dedicated to commissioning and premiering works by contemporary American composers, and has received ASCAP’s Adventurous Programming award. Recent commissions and premieres include works by Jean Belmont, Matthew Harris, Libby Larsen, Zhou Long, Stephen Paulus, Stephen Sametz, Eric Whitacre, and Chen Yi. The Roger Dean Company, a division of the Lorenz Corporation, publishes a choral series under Bruffy's supervision specializing in music for professional ensembles and sophisticated high school and college choirs.

Mr. Bruffy has been recognized by many as the next great American choral conductor. In 1999, The New York Times named Bruffy as a potential heir apparent to the late great Robert Shaw and in 1996, Bruffy was asked by National Public Radio to help celebrate Robert Shaw's 80th birthday with an on-air tribute. In 2005 Fanfare magazine called him “one of the next big things in American choral music.”

Bruffy has been Artistic Director of the Phoenix Bach Choir since 1999 and of the Kansas City Chorale since 1988. The choirs are praised for both their live performances and recordings. Bruffy’s eclectic discography of over 13 recordings includes music by Argento, Brahms, Corigliano, Gretchaninov, Martin, Mäntyjärvi, Rachmaninov and Vaughan Williams. Released in 1996, the Kansas City Chorale’s recording of Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Nimbus NI 5497/8), garnered praise by the New York Times stating "...a project that must be rated a serious contender for record of the year...the chorus is everywhere remarkable.” The Phoenix Bach Choir’s Shakespeare in Song (Chandos CHSA 5031) released in 2004 was lauded by critics and consumers alike around the globe.

A Board Member of Chorus America, Bruffy conducts workshops and clinics across the U.S., most recently at the Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey and for the National Association of Church Musicians Convention in Long Beach, California. Increasingly busy on the international scene, he most recently conducted performances of Verdi’s Requiem in Australia’s Sydney Opera House. Also an active tenor soloist, Bruffy performed with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in recordings and concerts in France, and in concerts at Carnegie Hall. He is a featured soloist on the Robert Shaw release Appear and Inspire.

Mr. Bruffy received his Bachelors degree from Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri and a Master’s degree in vocal performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City, where he also completed all course work for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting. Mr. Bruffy has received honorary doctorates from Baker University and Missouri Western State University.

Kansas City Chorale | Phoenix Bach Choir

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