Eric Dale Knapp | Music & Artistic Director

Eric Dale Knapp is an accomplished and dynamic conductor who has made significant contributions to the world of music.  His commitment and energy empower the musicians he leads, resulting in performances that deeply touch the souls of his audiences. Maestro Knapp's mastery of the repertoire is extensive, encompassing traditional works as well as visionary performances of multimedia works of the new millennium. He is equally adept at conducting classical and popular music, and his ability to effectively communicate through both gesture and speech places him at the forefront of his generation of conductors.  

He has served as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Connecticut Choral Society for 23 seasons, earning critical acclaim both in the United States and abroad.

Throughout his career, EDK has been involved in music education, church music, collegiate teaching, and collaborating with orchestras and choirs in renowned concert halls worldwide. His concert appearances have included prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sydney Opera House and Town Hall in Australia, Shanghai's Oriental Arts Center, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Disney Hall and The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and many more. He has also conducted performances at iconic locations such as Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, the Gedächtniskirche in Berlin, the Zlín Congress Center in the Czech Republic, and the Holy Trinity Church in Warsaw. 

Notable career highlights for Maestro Knapp include serving as the Artistic Director and Conductor for "PERFORM IN HARMONY WITH OLYMPIC SPIRIT" in celebration of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China. He also created and led the INTERNATIONAL HAYDN FESTIVAL 2009 at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, and headlined at FIRE WITHIN, a concert at Cadogan Hall in London, UK, in association with the 2012 Olympics. Recently, he led Verdi's Requiem with Orchestra 1813 at the Lake Como Opera House, Teatro Sociale di Como. 

In addition to his work with the Connecticut Choral Society, Eric Dale Knapp is the Artistic Director and Founder of ORCHESTRANEXUS. He has led ORCHESTRANEXUS and NEXUS CHORAL ARTISTS in concerts that have garnered international attention, resulting in partnerships with renowned institutions and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, and many more. 

Eric Dale Knapp's musical journey began with his studies at the Juilliard School, and he holds BM, BME, BMB, and MM degrees from Drake University. He has studied under esteemed conducting teachers including Aimee Beckman-Collier, John Alexander, Jorge Mester, Helmuth Rilling, and Tsung Yeh. Additionally, he had the privilege of learning from Robert Shaw and coaching with Michael Tilson Thomas. Mr. Knapp also studied with Swiss conductor and pedagogue Johannes Scheafli, who leads the Orchestral Conducting Program at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zurich School of the Arts). Throughout his career, Eric Dale Knapp has prepared choirs and orchestras for John Rutter and served as conductor-in-residence, leading the New England Symphonic Ensemble in subscription concerts at Carnegie Hall. 

In recognition of his achievements in the performing arts, Mr. Knapp was named a distinguished alumnus of his alma mater in 2016 and subsequently received the prestigious Hall of Fame Award. He is represented by Wade Artist Management and is actively involved in the development of Nexus Arts & Culture, the home of ORCHESTRANEXUS.

John Robert Liepold brings to Nexus three decades of experience as a conductor, teacher, arts administrator, and producer.  He is the founding conductor of New York City’s dynamic professional men’s chorus, The Singing Apes. John is a graduate of Wesleyan University and has done graduate work at Columbia University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, the University of Oregon, and Westminster Choir College. Liepold has performed and studied conducting with John Alexander, Marin Alsop, Peter Bagley, Neely Bruce, James Conlon, Allen Crowell, Charles Dutoit, Eph Ehly, Elmer Eisler, Joseph Flummerfelt, Vance George, Dennis Keene, Neville Marriner, André Previn, Helmuth Rilling, and Robert Shaw.

Maestro Liepold has led vibrant choral programs in New York, Connecticut, and Virginia. He received critical acclaim for his work with the Connecticut Choral Society and Orchestra and the University of Virginia Men’s Glee Club, with whom he made several recordings and commissioned and premiered a dozen major new additions to the repertoire. A career music educator, Liepold has served as department chair and music teacher at  the Allen-Stevenson, Dalton, Hewitt, Trevor Day, and Trinity Schools, the New School University's Mannes College of Music, and Grace Choral Society in New York City; and at Hampden-Sydney College and Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. Liepold has two decades of experience as a church musician, having served as Music Director for Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Unitarian Universalist communities. He is currently Director of Music at Morristown (NJ) United Methodist Church.

Choruses under Liepold’s direction have given command performances at regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors’ Association and the Intercollegiate Men’s Chorus Association, on national and international tours, at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and for the President of the United States. His choruses have been broadcast on NBC’s Today Show, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, Connecticut and Virginia Public Radio, and the Voice of America.

International projects have included concerts in honor of the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing and Shanghai, at the Haydn Bicentennial Festival (Vienna), at Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford) and Southwark Cathedral (London), and at the Cathedrals of Notre Dame in Chartres and Paris. Liepold returned to France to conduct concerts in Rouen and Paris commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy landings. Maestro Liepold recently made his conducting debut in Italy, with concerts in Lake Como (Opera House) and Venice (Basilica San Marco).

Carnegie Hall has recognized Liepold as one of the “rising generation of choral leaders,” inviting him to take part in their annual Professional Conductors’ Workshops with Robert Shaw and others. As a several-time Chorus America Conducting Fellow, he has conducted Voices of Ascension and the Gregg Smith Singers, and studied with some of the world’s most respected Master Conductors. Mr. Liepold remains active as a singer, having sung regularly with the Robert Shaw Festival Chorus and as a founding member of the Dennis Keene Festival Chorus. Liepold recently had the privilege to serve as Music Director for the venerable Blue Hill Troupe's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Yeomen of the Guard. The performances were the world premiere of G&S scholar Colin Jagger's critically-acclaimed new chamber orchestration of Yeomen, published by Oxford University Press.