Robert Trocina
Music Director, Orchestral Activities
Born in New Jersey and raised in Atlanta's arts communities, Robert Trocina currently serves as Music Director of Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 1997. Mr. Trocina also serves as Music Director for Northeast Atlanta Ballet and their productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake; Prokofiev’s Cinderella and an original production of Peter Pan, a post he has held since 2007. Mr. Trocina previously served as Associate Conductor and Board Member of the Atlanta Wind Symphony from 1998-2003. He has guest conducted many ensembles including Capitol City Opera (GA), for their performances of Mozart's The Impresario and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (2008), Atlanta Musicians’ Orchestra (2009), and Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra (2011).
Mr. Trocina received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Kennesaw State University and completed further studies at Georgia State University. He studied orchestral conducting under Thomas Wubbenhorst, Patricio Cobos, William Fred Scott and Steven Byess, and Trumpet under Mark Hughes, Jim Thompson and Stephen Winnick. Other influential teachers have included Michael Walters and Mary Beth Palmer.
As the founding conductor of the GSO, Mr. Trocina has developed a program which includes the symphony orchestra, ballet orchestra, symphony chorus, chamber orchestra, youth orchestra, and several in-residence chamber ensembles. In 2007, Mr. Trocina established the Performing Arts Center at Gwinnett Center as the orchestras’ primary performance home. During his tenure, Robert has been instrumental in bringing many internationally renowned guest soloists to the ensembles; including Ivana Cetkovic, Senisa Ciric and Beth Newdome, Violin; Momoko Yamato, Ralph Votapek, Huu Mai, and David Watkins, Piano; Susan Welty, Richard Deane, Bruce Kenney and Thomas Witte, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Horn Section; and Edward Weaver, Harpsichord and Organ. Also, Mr. Trocina has collaborated GSO with several ensembles including the Northeast Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Wind Symphony, William O. Baker Festival Singers, Northside Choral Jazz Ensemble, Chix with Stix Percussion Ensemble, Atlanta Percussion Trio, Capitol City Opera, Georgia Perimeter College Wind Ensemble, and the Gwinnett Community Band. In 2009, Mr. Trocina and colleague Eriko Ishikawa founded the “Rising Star Piano Concerto Competition”. In its first season, six winners performed a movement each of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, K.488 on stage with the GSO.
Mr. Trocina is President/CEO of New School of Music, which he co-founded 1997, and has developed one of Atlanta’s most successful private music conservatories. NSM currently has three Atlanta based locations, employees over 80 music teachers, and has an enrollment of 1600 students. In 2011, NSM launched a new franchise "Play Music Academy by New School of Music" which launched its first two locations in Flowery Branch and Commerce, GA. Mr. Trocina's performance experience has brought him to 38 United States, as well as Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. Mr. Trocina has worked as a consultant and specialist for many school music programs throughout the Atlanta area including Pope and Sprayberry High Schools in Cobb County, Brookwood and Parkview High Schools in Gwinnett County, and Stockbridge High School in Clayton County. As a trumpet instructor for 21 years, his students received honors such as inclusion in Georgia's All State Band and Orchestra, Georgia's Governors Honors Program, and college music scholarships. Mr. Trocina has served as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the southeast and was a member of the Brass Instructional Staff for the Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He has held memberships in the Music Educators' National Conference, International Trumpet Guild, International Association of Jazz Educators, and Georgia Music Educators' Association. Mr. Trocina premiered the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Fanfare as part of a 12 member trumpet ensemble, and his recordings of Trumpet Fanfares were broadcast in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium for the 1995-1996 Atlanta Braves seasons.