Music Director and Conductor
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, Northeast Atlanta Ballet Orchestra
Noted as “a brilliant conductor who formally lives within the music” by Odenwälder Zeitung, Wald-Michelbach, Germany, Robert Trocina is an accomplished Orchestral and Ballet Conductor, Artistic Director and Entrepreneur.
Robert Trocina is the founding Music Director of Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of Gwinnett Symphony Musical Arts Consortium, posts he has held since 2005. He is Music Director of Northeast Atlanta Ballet, where he has conducted over 100 full-length productions of Prokofiev’s Cinderella, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Nutcracker, and NEAB’S original production of Peter Pan. Mr. Trocina is newly appointed Artistic Director of the Korean American Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of Starkenburg Philharmoniker, Viernheim, Germany. He previously served as Associate Conductor of Atlanta Wind Symphony (1998-2003) and Music Director of Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra (1997-2006). Mr. Trocina has performed in 38 United States, as well as Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. He made his opera debut with Capitol City Opera, where he conducted performances of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mozart’s The Impresario. Mr. Trocina will return to Germany to conduct Neujahrskonzert 2019 with Starkenburg Philharmoniker, and will serve as Guest Conductor of Academik Symphony Orchestra of Chernivtsi Philharmonic Society, Ukraine, in 2020. He also served as Guest Conductor for National Guild for Community Arts Education National Conference, Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Korean Symphony Orchestra, HOPE Johns Creek Orchestra, KCA Orchestra and Atlanta Musicians Orchestra.
As an active artistic director for over 20 years, Mr. Trocina has collaborated with scores of internationally renowned guest artists, conductors and ensembles. He prides himself in building eclectic concert seasons that often fuse multifaceted programming into performances enjoyed by larger audiences. Mr. Trocina has developed concerts featuring American and world premier performances of new compositions, such as the world premiere of Andrew Webb-Mitchell’s Songs of Awe and Wonder, where the composer made the long trek from China to be present for the performance. Mr. Trocina established Infinite Energy Theater as the concert hall for GSMAC ensembles, a residency the ensembles have held since 2007. He has grown GSMAC to include a symphony orchestra, symphony chorus, chamber orchestra, wind orchestra, chamber singers, jazz orchestra, and youth orchestra. GSMAC concert seasons include approximately 17 productions and over 25 performances.
With a strong emphasis on youth education, Mr. Trocina is Co-owner and Director of New School of Music, a music conservatory with seven schools located throughout Georgia, which he co-founded with Mr. Rick Smith in 1997. NSM has an average enrollment of approximately 1500 students and has taught over one-million private music lessons since its inception. Mr. Trocina has established a youth orchestra program that serves hundreds of youth musicians, an annual “Side-by-Side” concert featuring teachers and their students, Young Persons Concerts, and Youth Concerto Competitions.
Mr. Trocina received a Bachelor of Music Education from Kennesaw State University and completed further studies in conducting and performance at Georgia State University and Columbus State University. He studied conducting under Thomas Wubbenhorst, Patricio Cobos, William Fred Scott and Steven Byess, and trumpet under Mark Hughes, Jim Thompson and Stephen Winnick. He is a member of The League of American Orchestras, Georgia Music Educators Association and National Association of School Music Dealers.