GRAMMY-Award winning conductor Michael Christie, hailed by the New York Times as “a director open to adventure and challenge,” has been appointed the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Conservatory and will lead the programming and direction of the Conservatory’s instrumental and vocal ensembles beginning in fall 2026.
“Peabody’s Ensembles program has evolved dramatically in recent years, the better to reflect today’s professional landscape and prepare students for success as 21st-century artists,” noted Fred Bronstein, dean of the Peabody Institute. “With his broad experience, leadership, and innovative approach to both audience engagement and education, Michael Christie is exactly the right person to lead the program in this moment, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the faculty.”
Currently the Artistic and Music Director of the New West Symphony in Southern California, Christie’s conducting career has included leadership posts with the Phoenix Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, the Queensland Orchestra, and Minnesota Opera, as well as guest appearances with orchestras and opera companies around the world.
A champion of new works, Christie conducted Indiana University’s November 2024 world premiere of Mason Bates’ and Gene Scheer’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay before it opened at the Metropolitan Opera this fall. He leads performances of Kavalier and Clay for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in February 2026. He won a 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording for the world premiere recording of Mason Bates’ and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with the Santa Fe Opera. At Minnesota Opera, Christie led the world premieres of Peabody Composition Professor Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night in 2011, and The Manchurian Candidate in 2015.
He brings a diverse conducting background spanning more than 25 years of experience to the Peabody Conservatory’s Large Ensembles program, which is designed to help students develop both excellence as a performer and musical flexibility across a wide range of performing contexts, musical styles, and ensemble configurations. In addition to training student artists in the core traditions and repertoire that have long been central to the conservatory experience, Peabody is integrating historically underrepresented and emerging American artistic traditions and voices into the curriculum.
Reflecting on his appointment at Peabody, Christie says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to participate and contribute to Peabody’s century-and-a-half-long commitment of preparing students in an ever-evolving cultural and societal landscape. The passion of the faculty, staff, and students to explore, strive, and focus on developing extraordinary artistic abilities makes Peabody Institute one of the most appealing places to call a musical home. I look forward to extensive collaboration with both faculty and students throughout the ensemble program.”
Michael Christie first came to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize for “Outstanding Potential” at the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in Helsinki. He was invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim as well as at the Berlin State Opera. He graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance.
Joseph Young, a 2009 Conducting alumnus of the Peabody Conservatory and the current Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles, is stepping down from the directorship but will remain on the Large Ensembles faculty alongside Christie, Peabody Wind Ensemble Conductor Harlan D. Parker, Director of Choral Studies Beth Willer, and Director of Graduate Conducting Marin Alsop. During the 2025-26 academic year, Christie will be working closely with Young and other Conservatory colleagues as he transitions into this new role. He made two previous conducting appearances at Peabody in 2024-25.