NEC Symphonic Winds + Kevin Fitzgerald

Artist(s)

Kevin Fitzgerald, NEC Director of Wind Ensembles

American conductor Kevin Fitzgerald is a formidable musical leader. Kevin's 25-26 season included debuts with the Bamberger Symphoniker, Sarasota Orchestra, and Redlands Symphony, as well as assisting at the New York Philharmonic and the Royal Concertge- bouw Orchestra, funded by the Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent. He won the Special Prize for the Best Performance of the Contemporary Piece at the 2023 Mahler Competition. Kevin is the first conductor to win this award, sponsored by the Mahler Foundation, which led to him conducting the world premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's Con Moto with the Bamberger Symphoniker. He is also a four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, earning the honor in four consecutive years.
     He has performed with the North Carolina, Nashville, Jacksonville, Alabama, Cape, Baton Rouge, and Brevard symphonies as well as the Rochester Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, and the Grossman Ensemble. Kevin held the position of Associate Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony for three seasons (22-25). During his fruitful tenure, he led over one hundred performances, including two subscription programs, a fully staged production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, performances of Handel’s Messiah, and several ballet productions. Kevin has been an active cover conductor at the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Czech Philharmonic. 
     Kevin gave numerous performances with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra as a Conducting Fellow in 2021. He was especially featured in the TMC Festival of Contemporary Music, conducting the world premiere performance of Chinese composer Xinyang Wang’s Between the Resonating Abysses and Kaija Saariaho’s Graal théâtre with violin soloist Momo Wong. While at TMC, Kevin worked closely with Thomas Adès as his rehearsal conductor for Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, as well as stepping in on short notice to conduct Per Nørgård’s Dream Play (1975) in his stead. Kevin founded the ÆPEX Contemporary Performance ensemble in 2015 in order to perform and promote contemporary classical composers from historically underrepresented backgrounds. With them, he conducted works by Pierre Boulez, Unsuk Chin, Ash Fure, Hans Abrahamsen, Julia Perry, and George Benjamin.
     Additionally, Kevin co-produced and conducted “Requiem for Orlando,” a moving musical tribute to the victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando, FL. Planned in under 48 hours, over 400 musical volunteers performed Mozart’s Requiem in Hill Auditorium for a full-capacity audience. He continues to seek ways to use music as an effective and therapeutic vessel for equity, healing, and social change.
     Since the fall of 2026 he has been a faculty member at NEC where he is a member of the conducting faculty and Director of Wind Ensembles. He has guest conducted extensively at Manhattan School of Music as well as the Eastman Wind Ensemble.