Sir Gilbert Levine, KCSG, is one of today's most distinguished conductors. He is a Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Early in his career, he conducted orchestras both in Europe and the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Sir Gilbert first gained international notice when he became conductor and artistic director of the Kraków Philharmonic in 1987. He was the first American chief conductor of an Eastern European orchestra. In 2000, Sir Gilbert was named artistic director and conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra's "Millennium Creation Series." In this capacity he toured America and Europe, performing Haydn's The Creation in televised concerts in Baltimore, London, and Rome. Between 1988 and 2004, he led several concerts for Pope John Paul II and became known as "The Pope's Maestro." He led the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) in 2003, conducting selections from Verdi and Mozart on ABC's "Good Morning America" in a historic first for that program. In the same year, he led the LPO and London Philharmonic Choir in televised performances of excerpts of Gorecki's Third Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony from Krakow, during the city's reign as the European Capital of Culture. On this occasion, Sir Gilbert received the Krakow Gold Medallion from the city president, in recognition of his services to Krakow's cultural life. From 2004 to 2006, he led the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a series of concerts called "Music for the Spirit." In July 2005, Sir Gilbert led the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir in the first complete performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Cologne Cathedral. In November of that same year, Sir Gilbert directed the Orchestra of Saint Luke's and the Morgan State University Choir in a concert entitled "Rejoice in this Land," which included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the world premiere of "Washington Speaks" by Richard Danielpour, with Ted Koppel as narrator. Sir Gilbert made his debut with the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne in 2007 in a performance of Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 and Te Deum with the choirs of WDR (West German Radio, Cologne) and NDR (Hamburg). He attended The Juilliard School and holds degrees from both Princeton University and Yale University. Sir Gilbert has lectured at Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University, and has taught conducting both at Yale and at the Manhattan School of Music.