He has conducted widely, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Montreal and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Hamburg, NHK Orchestra, Tokyo, and the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Stefan Asbury frequently collaborates with composers, including Steve Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Unsuk Chin, and Mark-Anthony Turnage. He conducted the world and US premieres of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Piano Concerto with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His recordings have won the Monde de la Musique CHOC award and a Deutschen Schallplattenkritik award.

Opera and musical theatre form an important part of his musical life, with highlights including productions at the Spoleto Festival, the Barbican Theatre, London, Tanglewood Music Center, the Perth International Arts Festival, the Wiener Festwochen, Lyon Opera, and the opera of La Monnaie, Brussels.

As an experienced educator, he served on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center for three decades, holding the position of Head of Conducting from 2005 to 2024. Stefan Asbury has given masterclasses at the Hochschule der Künste (Zürich), Venice and Geneva Conservatoires, and the Mendelssohn Academy of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, as well as the New World Symphony. He has also been a guest artist at New England Conservatory, Boston University, and the Peabody Institute.