Biography

Harvey Felder

Conductor

Described by The Milwaukee Sentinel as "a thoughtful and sincere musician, with a stylish, poised podium presence", Harvey Felder is currently the Music Director of the Tacoma Symphony.  The Tacoma News Tribune has said of his leadership, “ . . . Felder has instilled a high level of ensemble discipline and energized the musicians." Equally at home with repertoire ranging from Bach and Mahler to Gershwin and Ellington, Mr. Felder leads the Tacoma Symphony in a season of subscription, family, education, outreach and pops concerts.

Also active as a guest conductor, Harvey Felder made his Carnegie Hall debut during the 1991 "Carnegie Hall at 100" celebration, leading the American Symphony Orchestra in a series of young people's concerts. These appearances launched a guest conducting career which has included engagements with the National, Omaha, Baltimore, Seattle, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, American, Delaware, Honolulu, New Jersey, Baton Rouge, Wheeling, Wyoming, Quad City, Santa Fe, North Carolina, Indianapolis, Madison, Missouri and Grant Park Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Kansas City, Rochester, Dayton, Orange County, Boise and Boulder Philharmonics, the Concord Chamber Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra.  He conducted the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in outreach, education and family concerts, as well as a holiday concert that was nationally televised on PBS.  With the Chicago Symphony, Mr. Felder has led family and education concerts, as well as a nationally televised concerto competition concert on PBS. 

Outside of the U.S. Mr. Felder has appeared with the Osaka Telemann Chamber Orchestra (on two occasions), the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estados de Mexico, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Mikkeli City Orchestra of Finland and the New Japan Philharmonic.  He has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Alicia de Larrocha, Sarah Chang, Jeffrey Siegel, Jennifer Koh, Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Ida Kavafian, José Feghali, Nathaniel Rosen, Leon Bates and pops artists Doc Severinson, Maureen McGovern, the Dallas Brass and Marvin Hamlisch.

In prior positions, Mr. Felder was Assistant Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony, Artistic Advisor to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony and Music Director of the Fox Valley Symphony.  He received his B.M. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his M.M. from the University of Michigan, and continued his studies with Gennady Rozdestvensky, Elizabeth Green, David Zinman, Michael Tilson Thomas, Max Rudolf and Zdenek Macal. 

His informative yet entertaining style of presenting concerts brought him to the attention of an ad hoc commission jointly assembled by the Kennedy and Getty Centers. As a member of that commission he helped develop recommendations for the inclusion of an arts curriculum in educational reform legislation. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including Tacoma's Arts Fund "Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Award", a "Citation of Excellence" from the Wisconsin State Assembly, a "Distinguished Citizen Award" from the Wisconsin Civic Music Association and the "Distinguished Alumni Award" from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Harvey felder

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