With a career that ranges from symphony to opera, Broadway to chamber music, Maestro Gerald Steichen has established himself as one of America’s most versatile conductors. This is his debut season as Music Director of the Macon Symphony Orchestra (Georgia). He spent nine years as Music Director of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (Connecticut), twelve seasons as Principal Pops Conductor of the Utah Symphony, and fifteen seasons as Principal Pops Conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
Steichen is a frequent guest conductor for the Boston Pops and the New Jersey Symphony, and has appeared with the symphonies of Detroit; Indianapolis; Naples, Florida; Portland, Oregon; the Florida Orchestra in Tampa; Cincinnati; Columbus, Oklahoma City, Hartford and the New York Pops. International appearances include the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo City Symphony, the NDR Philharmonie Hannover at the Braunschweig Festival, and numerous appearances with the Norwegian Radio Symphony.
During ten seasons with the New York City Opera, Steichen led performances including La bohème, L’elisir d’amore, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince, Jonathan Miller’s production of The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. In 2007, he led the New York City Opera Orchestra and soloists in a live WQXR broadcast of Wall to Wall Opera from New York’s Symphony Space. A gifted pianist, he performed on stage for the New York City Opera’s acclaimed productions of Porgy and Bess and Carmina Burana. He has also conducted Utah Opera, Virginia Opera, Anchorage Opera, New Jersey Opera Theater, Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, NY, Yale Opera and Opera East Texas.
Steichen toured nationally as the associate conductor of The Phantom of the Opera, The Secret Garden, and Peter Pan and conducted Cats in New York for two years. He has also appeared on Broadway, portraying Manny, the Accompanist in the Tony Award-winning Master Class. He will be leading the upcoming National tour of The King and I. Pursuing his passion for education, Steichen also spent eighteen years with the “Meet the Artist” series at Lincoln Center as conductor, clinician and pianist. A gifted chamber musician, he continues to play instrumental and vocal recitals internationally, including performances with the HIFA festival in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Bay Chamber Festival in Rockport, Maine.
Originally from Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Maestro Steichen holds degrees from Northern Oklahoma College, Oklahoma City University and the University of Southern California. He currently resides in New York City.
