Hailed as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation, Peabody alumnus Joseph Young has been named the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Conservatory following an international search. In this role, Young will lead the programming and direction of all Peabody Conservatory instrumental ensembles. In addition, he will work with Marin Alsop who leads the graduate conducting program.
Currently assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Young conducts more than 50 concerts per season, including programs on the classical series, family concerts, and various other concerts geared towards specific audiences in the community. He also serves as the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he is the driving force behind the ensemble’s artistic growth.
“Joseph Young is exactly the right leader to shape Peabody’s reimagined ensembles program and create excellent, meaningful, relevant, and diverse performance opportunities for our students,” said Fred Bronstein, dean of the Peabody Institute. “His artistry and energy on the podium will engage and inspire both our student performers and Baltimore audiences. And his keen understanding of the varied roles artists and ensembles must play in communities today is a quality critical to the success of 21st-century musicians and music organizations.”
Young’s appointment comes as the Peabody Conservatory prepares for the fall 2017 launch of the new Breakthrough Curriculum in Music Leadership, a model at the forefront of arts training in the United States. The Breakthrough Curriculum is designed to help students develop skills in performance, career development, and citizen artistry to meet the demands of today’s changing musical landscape. A new instrumental ensembles program developed as part of the Breakthrough Curriculum will move students through a rotation of varied ensemble experiences to ensure training across a range of performing contexts, musical styles, and ensemble configurations.
“It is an honor for me to join the outstanding artist faculty of the Peabody Conservatory at this very exciting time,” noted Young about his appointment. “I look forward to working with the students, faculty, and leadership at Peabody to embrace the institution’s new initiatives.”
Young made his major American orchestral debut in 2008 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has since appeared with the Saint Louis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Bamberger Symphoniker, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica y Coro de RTVE (Madrid), and Chicago Sinfonietta, among others. This season he returned to the Baltimore Symphony and also conducted the Peabody Concert Orchestra in its October concert. He is a recipient of the 2015 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award for young conductors, an award he also won in 2008 and 2014. In 2013, he was a semi-finalist in the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition. In 2011, he was one of six conductors featured in the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview. Young earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at the University of South Carolina and completed graduate studies with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar at the Peabody Conservatory in 2009, earning an artist diploma in conducting. He has been mentored by many world-renowned conductors including Jorma Panula, Robert Spano, and Marin Alsop, with whom he continues to maintain a close relationship.
