Music Director
(2011-present)
Sponsored by Claudia G. Conn
Gregory Vajda, sixth Music Director and Conductor of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, is among the most skilled, imaginative, and highly regarded conductors and composers of our time.
He is Music Director of the Portland Festival Symphony; Principal Guest Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony; Artistic Director of Hungary’s UMZE New Music Ensemble; Artist in Residence of France’s Ensemble Ars Nova; and Program Director of the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation. Previously he was Music Director of the International Armel Opera Festival and of Music in the Mountains Festival, California.
A partial list of conducting credits includes performances with the Hamburg State Opera, L’Opéra de Montréal, Palermo Opera, Atlanta Opera, Hungarian State Opera, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Budapest Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Montréal Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Symphony Silicon Valley.
In 2020, he received the Artisjus Award for his work as a conductor promoting contemporary music. In 2018, he was presented with the prestigious Bartók-Pásztory Award in the field of music composition.
Gregory studied composition at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and was a pupil of the world-renowned composer and conductor Peter Eötvös. He is the son of acclaimed soprano Veronika Kincses, and is father to sons Balázs and Vince.
For more information, please visit Gregory’s website.
Music Directors
| Gregory Vajda | 2011 – |
| Carlos Miguel Prieto | 2003 – 2011 |
| Taavo Virkhaus | 1989 – 2003 |
| Marx Pales | 1971 – 1988 |
| Russel Gerhardt | 1959 – 1971 |
| Arthur M. Fraser | 1955 – 1959 |
