23-24 Carmina Burana - Other - Page 22
NORTHWEST FLORIDA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Todd Craven, NFSO Music Director & Conductor
American conductor Todd Craven is Music Director/Conductor
of the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando
Contemporary Chamber Orchestra. Known for his musical sensitivity,
amiable personality and passion for contemporary music, Craven
advocates for the 21st century orchestra by creating programs that
introduce classical and orchestral music to people from all walks of
life. Craven’s past accomplishments include First Prize in the 2019
Los Angeles Conducting Competition, Assistant Conductor positions
with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Florida Grand Opera, as well as
Music Director positions with the Michigan Pops and the University of
Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra.
In 2022-23, Todd made his debut with the Florida Orchestra (TFO) in a
series of sold-out holiday concerts, with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, stepping in
with a few hours notice to conduct the entirety of Handel’s Messiah and with the Orlando
Philharmonic Orchestra for their Concert at the Springs. In March of 2023, Mr. Craven was
invited to assist on a recording project with Eric Jacobsen, the Virginia Symphony and the
legendary violinist Gil Shaham. In 2024, Todd will return to the Virginia Symphony, and
is also invited to guest conduct the Goiânia Symphony Orchestra of Brazil. Other guest
conducting highlights have included engagements with the Detroit Symphony, Toledo
Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Peabody Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony
Orchestra.
Co-Founder and Music Director of the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, Craven is
passionate about performing the works of living composers. Orlando Arts Magazine said of
the “captivating” world premiere of Donald Yu’s Four Seasons, that Craven “held the ensemble
together with precision, allowing each instrument to resonate while minding the role of the
soloist.”
Previously a prize winning trumpet player, he began his professional career as Principal
Trumpet of the Sarasota Orchestra and performed with the New York Philharmonic,
Cincinnati Symphony and as a frequent guest artist at the Sarasota Music Festival.
Craven made his conducting debut in 2012 with members of the Sarasota Orchestra and
Redeemer Chorus in Maurice Durufle’s Requiem. In 2014, he began conducting studies with
Kenneth Kiesler at the University of Michigan and subsequently with Marin Alsop at the
Peabody Conservatory. Other conducting mentors include JoAnn Falletta, Donald Schleicher,
Larry Rachleff, and William Wiedrich.