Music Director, Arthur Post

In his eleventh acclaimed season as music director of the San Juan Symphony, Arthur Post has built a reputation for innovative programming that combines the great classics with music reflecting local land, cultures and concerns. His innovative vision, commitment to artistic excellence and engaging manner have led to a popular branding of the orchestra in the Four Corners. He’s introduced Pops, Educational, Family, Side-by-Side and Outdoor concerts, has initiated outreach to neighboring cities and has created collaborations with local artists, dancers and popular musicians. Highlights of the SJS’s 25th anniversary season in 2010 were its first commissioned world premiere and its first CD, a live recording of the season finale Carmina Burana. Mr. Post is also in his third season as music director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada, a full-time professional chamber orchestra. In the United States, he has led more than a dozen major orchestras, including the Detroit, Houston, New Jersey, Columbus, North Carolina, Virginia, Grand Rapids, San Antonio and Richmond symphonies. Highlights of this season include debuts with the El Paso and Barcelona symphonies, a gala performance with tenor Ben Heppner and the release of his second CD with the Thunder Bay Symphony.

As a guest conductor in Europe, Mr. Post made his debut with the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin in 1993 and has recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for the BMG label. Other international appearances include the Helsinki Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, London Mozart Players, Saarland Radio Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, and the National Orchestras of Lille and Toulouse in France. Mr. Post has worked regularly on the conducting staff of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona where he has collaborated with singers Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flores, José van Dam, Samuel Ramey, Joyce DiDonato and Eva Podles, among others. He has performed with leading artists Sarah Chang, James Galway, Hilary Hahn, Anton Kuerti, Lorin Maazel and Maxim Vengerov.

Mr. Post has served as Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony under Lorin Maazel, Associate Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and Resident Conductor of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. A graduate of Yale University, summa cum laude with distinction in Music, he earned a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School, furthering his studies at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Salzburg Mozarteum. For three years, he studied the operatic repertoire at Hamburg's Hochschule für Musik, served on the conducting staff of the Hamburg Operettenhaus and appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. He has conducted in masterclasses with Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf and Simon Rattle, and was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, performing at the Hollywood Bowl.

Having begun his studies on the double bass, he enjoys performing a variety of musical styles, including jazz and popular music. He has conducted tours with popular artists James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, and performed in PBS Pittsburgh Pops television specials with Marvin Hamlisch.

As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra for three years, Mr. Post provided artistic leadership for one of the top young ensembles in the country. His active interest in education led to developing concerts on Beethoven and Tchaikovsky for Pittsburgh educators that have since been performed in the United States, Europe and the Far East. His program, “Music on the Inside,” teaches improvisation and composition to young students who have no previous experience in music.