Conducting Fellowship
June 20–August 12, 2025
Applications open November 1. We will be updating our sites throughout October to reflect 2025 programs and applications.
The David Effron Conducting Fellowship is awarded to a gifted student pursuing a career in conducting. The applicant must be enrolled in or recently graduated (within the last year) from a graduate conducting program. Timothy Muffitt will guide the studies of the conducting fellow, and the conducting fellow will lead the Music School Festival Orchestra (MSFO) on a number of works over the course of the summer. Additionally, the fellow will serve as cover conductor and assistant for some Chautauqua Opera productions. The conducting fellow may also be involved in chamber music as well and is invited to observe rehearsals of our resident professional orchestra, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
A stipend of $2,000 will be awarded after the completion of the first MSFO concert in August. The conducting fellow will also receive a travel stipend, single room in the residence halls and a full meal plan as part of the contract agreement.
Contact Information
Sam Minardi-Lopez
Schools of Performing & Visual Arts (PAVA) and Arts Education Coordinator
716-357-6234
sminardi@chq.org
Sarah Malinoski
Director, Chautauqua Schools of Performing and Visual Arts
716-357-6233
f: 716-357-9014
smalinoski@chq.org
Chautauqua Festival Schools of Performing and Visual Arts
P.O. Box 1098
1 Ames Ave.
Chautauqua, NY 14722
2024 Conducting Fellow
“Chautauqua is a disarming place. You think you know what it will be like, but then it catches you by surprise—there’s nothing else like it in the world. It’s a place of constant inspiration, free exploration, and deep trust. Through ample podium time over seven weeks, I found myself connecting with music in ways that I hadn’t since I was just starting out, when I wasn’t yet overwhelmed with the chaotic hustle of professional life. Both through his inspiring example and through his mentorship, Timothy Muffitt helped me find ways to interweave that vivid passion with my craft. The conducting fellowship at Chautauqua was an extraordinarily rare opportunity to enrich my musical world and to meet talented musicians who I will be proud to call some of my dearest friends for the rest of my life. But more than anything, I am truly blessed to continue to call Tim one of my most important mentors who I still reach out to at any time for the kind of insight, support, and feedback that you absolutely must find as a young conductor.”
—Samuel Hollister, 2024 David Effron Conducting Fellow
Timothy Muffitt, Artistic and Music Director
Music Director of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra since 2006, and Music Director Laureate of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Muffitt continues to appear with other prominent orchestras around the country. Recent seasons have included St. Louis Symphony and Tulsa Symphony and return engagements with the San Francisco Symphony and the Long Beach Symphony along with his debut at The Hollywood Bowl. Other engagements have taken Muffitt to the Houston, Phoenix, Edmonton, and Spokane Symphonies, Columbus Ohio’s Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra in Chicago and the Harrisburg (PA) Symphony among others.
Along with continued growth in artistic excellence, Muffitt’s work has been marked by innovative, imaginative programming. A strong proponent of community arts education, Muffitt has been very active in the venues of radio and lecture, presenting arts-enrichment programs through a variety of formats for diverse audiences.
Prominent performers and composers with whom Mr. Muffitt has worked include Yo Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Andre Watts, Alicia de Larrocha, Pinchas Zukerman, Van Cliburn, Lynn Harrell, Itzhak Perlman, and composers John Cage, Joseph Schwantner, Ellen Taffe Zwilich, John Harbison, Joan Tower and Bernard Rands among others.
David Effron Conducting Fellowship Alumni Postings
2024: Samuel Hollister
Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra
2023: Ryo Hasegawa
Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Peabody Symphony/Concert Orchestra, and the Peabody Youth Orchestra, and Chair & Founder of Mudita Corporation
2022: Yeo Ryeong Ahn
Drs. Spindler & Juran Music Director of the University of Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra
2021: Joshua Hong
Two-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, engagements with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
2019: Maria Fuller
Music Director of Ammolite Opera Association in Calgary, Alberta; engagements with orchestras and opera companies across Canada
2018: Yue Bao
Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony
2017: Rebecca Tong
Resident Conductor of the Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra and Artistic Director and Music Director of Ensemble Kontemporer
2016: Louis Lohraseb
Opera conductor, engagements with the Los Angeles Opera, Semperoper Dresden and Komische Oper Berlin
2015: Dean Whiteside
2019 Conducting Fellow and assistant to Michael Tilson Thomas at the New World Symphony
2014: Earl Lee
Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, winner of the 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award
2013: Vlad Vizireanu
Principal Guest Conductor of the Ploiesti Philharmonic, Founder and Executive Director of Impulse New Music Festival, winner of the Only Stage & Hans von Bulow Conducting Competitions in 2021
2012: Roderick Cox
Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, orchestral and opera conductor, founder of the Roderick Cox Music Initiative
2011: Sarah Kidd
Deceased
2010: Stilian Kirov
Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic, Music Director of the Bakersfield Symphony in California
2009: Andres Moran
Director of Orchestras & Artist/Teacher of Horn at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
2008: Lio Kuokman
Programme Director of the Macao International Music Festival and Resident Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
2007: Daniel Boothe
Music Director & Conductor of the Symphonicity Orchestra and Commander & Conductor for the United States Air National Guard Band of the Southwest.
2006: Phillip Blake Richardson
Orchestra and Opera Conductor, former Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Alabama
2005: Kazem Abdullah
Modern opera conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera
2004: Andrew Altenbach
Associate Professor of Opera, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
2003: Kayoko Dan
Music Director, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera
2002: David In-Jae Cho
Music Director, Lubbock Symphony
2001: Shizou Kuwahara
Principal Guest Conductor, The Mariinsky Theatre
2000: Bradley Thachuk
Music Director, Niagara Symphony Orchestra
1999: Moriko Nakahara
Music Director, South Carolina Philharmonic
1998: Richard Loheyde
Director of the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra
1997: David Lawrence Dettloff
Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Hilary Parish in Fairlawn, Ohio
“Chautauqua is a unique place; it is an artist’s utopia. I had a wonderful, delightful and unforgettable summer. What fascinated me is that I had opportunities to not only work with talented musicians but also gifted dancers and artists. Under Maestro Muffitt’s guidance I grew so much during the summer. His artistry, talent and kindness inspired and helped me to become a better musician and human being.”
– Yue Bao, 2018 Conducting Fellow