Cailin Manson

Professor of Practice
Director of Music

At Clark, Professor Manson directs and manages the Music Performance concentration for all music majors and minors, specifically guiding the private lesson instruction program, performance workshops, departmental juries and capstone performance projects and recitals.

Professor Manson leads the Clark University Concert Choir and Chamber Chorus, and oversees all other music performance ensembles in the Music Program. He also teaches or manages the performance-related curriculum, including courses in repertoire, conducting, diction, and performance preparation.

Professor Manson joined the music faculty at Clark in 2019.

“[Manson] delivered… and continued to shine vocally and dramatically for the entire performance.” – MassLive.com

“Cailin’s emotive movements did not “conduct” so much a conjure a vortex seeming to suspend the reality of space and time.” – Trail Mix Arts Blog

“On the podium, Cailin Marcel Manson is electric.”- Keene Sentinel

Baritone and conductor Cailin Marcel Manson, a Philadelphia native, has enjoyed an international career as an operatic/concert soloist, conductor, and master teacher with many organizations, including the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Taipei Philharmonic, Bayerische Staatsoper – Münchner Opernfestspiele, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo, Konservatorium Oslo, and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg.

Mr. Manson has also been a guest cantor and soloist at some of the world’s most famous churches and cathedrals, including Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, and La Madeleine in Paris, San Marco in Venice, Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, San Salvatore in Montalcino, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, and Wieskirche in Steingaden.

Mr. Manson has built a sterling reputation over an extensive 20-year career, encompassing both baritone and tenor repertoire, for his exceptional musicianship, keen dramatic instincts, and vocal flexibility. Critics have praised his performances as “arresting” and “revelatory,” making consistent note of his “ringing projection,” “commanding tone,” (MassLive.com), “lively, original acting skills” (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), and his “ability to bring the internal drama of the music to life” (Scranton Times-Tribune).

Mr. Manson has held positions as Music Director of the Vorarlberger Musikfest, Music Director and Conductor Laureate of the Chamber Symphony of Atlantic City, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, Chair of Vocal Studies at the Hazleton Conservatory for the Performing Arts, Director of Music at The Putney School, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Germantown Concert Chorus and Germantown Choral Festival, and as Music Director of the Bennington County Choral Society. He has also served as a member of the faculty of the Vermont Governor’s Institute on the Arts and the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary.

Mr. Manson is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, presenter, panelist, and adjudicator for conventions, conferences, competitions, and music festivals.

Mr. Manson is currently Music Director of BARN OPERA in Vermont, Music Director of The Keene Chorale in New Hampshire, and Artistic Director and CEO of the New England Repertory Orchestra in Massachusetts.

A recognized advocate for community-based classical music organizations, Mr. Manson has served on the Board of Directors for Choral Arts New England and the Wagner in Vermont Festival, and is a member of the International Conductors’ Guild, League of American Orchestras, Opera America, American Choral Directors Association, International Society for Black Musicians, and the National Association of Negro Musicians.

Degrees

  • Mag. Art in Opera, Universität Mozarteum, 2002
  • Mag. Art in Orchestral Conducting, Universität Mozarteum, 2002

Affiliated Department

Visual and Performing Arts

Scholarly and creative works

  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    PanOpera: In our Opera Era

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Recital: Tuesday Morning Music Club

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Gala Recital: DEI in Classical Music Symposium

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Longy Opera: La Voce Totale

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Clark University Symphony Orchestra and New England Repertory Orchestra: Reformation

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Clark Chamber Chorus: Roman Romance

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Second Annual Clark University/Mechanics Hall Choral Invitational

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Keene Chorale 45th Anniversary Concert: Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Opera Vermont: Inaugural Concert Tour

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Release of Album: Aylward’s Oblivion

    Cailin M Manson, John Aylward
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Barn Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors: Role of Balthasar

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Gods and Monsters: Baroque Solo Cantatas and Arias

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Puccini: Turandot

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Keene Chorale: Rejoice!

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Longy Opera: Hänsel und Gretel

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    MidAmerica Productions: John Rutter: Magnificat

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Clark Chamber Chorus: Dreams and Visions

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    First Church Concert Series: Black Reflections

    Cailin M Manson, Christina Wright-Ivanova
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Wagner In Vermont Festival: Role of Wotan/Wanderer in Siegfried

    Cailin M Manson
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Inaugural Concert

    Cailin M Manson

Awards and grants