Meet the Team
George Marriner Maull, Artistic Director
EDUCATOR & PUBLIC TELEVISION PERSONALITY
As writer, conductor and host of both Bach to the Future© and Discover Beethoven’s 5th, one-hour televised Discovery Concerts®, he has reached tens of millions of American and international households by American Public Television estimates. Locally, as presenter of Fall in Love with Music, a music listening course for adults based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. Saul Feinberg, and as host of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Bank of America Classical Overtures, he interacts with thousands of New York/New Jersey metro participants each season.
CONDUCTOR
Founder and Artistic Director of The Discovery Orchestra, he was formerly Music Director and Conductor of the Louisville Ballet, Louisville Singers, New Jersey Youth Symphony, Plainfield Symphony (NJ), Bloomingdale Chamber Orchestra (NYC), Eastern Suffolk Symphony (NY) and The Discovery Orchestra’s predecessor entity, the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Kentucky Opera, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Washington Square Festival Orchestra in New York City, Orchestras of the Aaron Copland School of Music and the University of Louisville School of Music, and the New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony. He has conducted performances across the United States including appearances at Carnegie Hall and LincolnCenter, as well as in England, Belgium, The Netherlands, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
RECORDINGS
His recordings include three CD releases conducting the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in compositions by Max Schubel, Ernst Levy and Frank Ezra Levy with cello soloist Scott Ballantyne, recently released on the Naxos label.
VIOLIST
Formerly a professional violist with the Louisville Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Caramoor Festival Orchestra and American Symphony Orchestra, George Marriner Maull performed under Stravinsky, Boulez, Comissiona, Solti, Fiedler, Copland, Foss, Shaw and Levine.
TRAINING
A Philadelphia native, he studied piano and voice at St. Peter’s Choir School in Philadelphia and viola with Irving Segall of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Later he studied with Czech violinist, Paul Kling at the University of Louisville where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees and also continued his studies at The Juilliard School with Robert Smolensky and Lawrence Widdoes. His conducting teachers were Jorge Mester and Richard Johannes Lert.
AWARDS & OTHER TELEVISION APPEARANCES
- Recipient, Medal of the Belgian Ministry of Culture (1983)
- 1st Prize with Honors 32nd European Muziek festival (1983)
- WNET documentary Art Effects: Young & Noteworthy (1987)
- Distinguished Alumnus, University of Louisville (1994)
- Conductor Laureate, New Jersey Youth Symphony (1997)
- Mid-Atlantic Emmy Nomination, Bach to the Future© (2004)
- Somerset County Excellence in Arts Award (2005)
- Who’s Who in America (1997 – present)
INTERVIEWS
Jeff Friedman interviews Maestro Maull about increasing the pleasure you get from listening to classical music! Watch the interview.
Maestro Maull discusses TDO’s YouTube Discovery Chats and the ‘discovery process’ with Frank Macioce of HomeTowne TV. Watch the Interview
John Patten of The Warren Patch interviews Maestro Maull after TDO receives a 2011-2012 grant from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Read the Interview
FOR BOOKINGS
Guest Speaker/Guest Conductor, contact rmspro@verizon.net.
TDO Staff
VIRGINIA JOHNSTON, Executive Director
Virginia Johnston received her Bachelor of Music (Summa Cum Laude, University Scholar) from Syracuse University and her Master of Music (with Honors) from Boston University in both composition and clarinet performance. She has also studied choral conducting at Westminster Choir College through their Continuing Education department.
Starting as an Administrator with the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey (TDO’s predecessor organization) in 1992, she assumed the responsibilities of Managing Director in 1999 and Executive Director in June, 2009. She brings strong organizational, problem-solving and grant writing skills to The Discovery Orchestra.
Virginia worked as Music Director at the Springfield Emanuel United Methodist Church for 7 years and is a professional free-lance clarinetist, conductor and composer in the tri-state area. Her works have been performed by the Society for New Music, the Tunnel Vision Writer’s Project of Montclair and the New Jersey Youth Symphony at Alice Tully Hall, among others. Several of her compositions have been published by Ethos Publications and Earnestly Music. In 1992, she co-founded Triad Arts Ensemble, a non-profit performing arts organization. Through Triad,Virginia has co-chaired the annual Canticles for Life AIDS Benefit Concerts in New Jersey since 1997. To date, over $100,000 has been raised in this effort.
Since 1995, she has been Conductor of the Triad Vocal Ensemble, a mixed adult community choir specializing in accessible contemporary repertoire as well as traditional works, with a focus on female composers and New Jersey composers. Through the Triad Vocal Ensemble,Virginia has commissioned several new works from emerging New Jersey composers. Additionally, Ms. Johnston performs locally as a singer-songwriter in folk/rock and jazz styles and has released two CD’s of original material.
Virginia served on the Board of Trustees of the Newark Boys Chorus School and lives in Maplewood, NJ with her family.
email: ginny@DiscoveryOrchestra.org
