Neal Gittleman
Artistic Director and Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Neal Gittleman enjoys a career and reputation of international dimensions. With the historic merger of the Dayton Ballet, Dayton Opera and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra into the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance in July 2012, his expanded conducting duties include frequent performances with the Ballet and Opera.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Neal Gittleman graduated from Yale University in 1975. He continued his musical studies with the eminent teachers Nadia Boulanger and Annette Dieudonné in Paris, Hugh Ross at the Manhattan School of Music and Charles Bruck at both the Pierre Monteux Domaine School and the Hartt School of Music, where he was the recipient of the Karl Böhm Fellowship. In 1984, he was the Second Prize Winner of Geneva’s Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition, and, two years later, he was awarded Third Prize at the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York City. In 1989, he was selected for the American Conductors Program at the American Symphony Orchestra League’s annual conference in San Francisco. In May 2014, he was awarded a 2014 Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio.
Neal Gittleman inspires each listener’s imagination with his unique programming, in-depth comments, easygoing style and infectious enthusiasm for music. His focus is to make symphonic music readily available, as well as appreciated, by all musical tastes. Under his direction, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra has received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music nine times. Neal Gittleman celebrated his 25th season with the DPO in the 2019–2020 concert season.
Neal and his wife, Lisa Fry, make their home in Dayton.
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Patrick Reynolds
Associate Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
Associate Conductor Patrick Reynolds is a frequent presence on the Dayton Philharmonic podium, conducting SuperPops, Rock, Educational and Family concerts. An enthusiastic proponent of educational programming for orchestras, each season he leads the DPO in Magic Carpet and Young People’s Concerts, reaching thousands of students across the Dayton metropolitan area. Additionally, he has conducted Dayton Opera productions of Verdi’s La Traviata, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Consul, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, and Puccini’s La Bohème.
Dr. Reynolds is conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, an organization selected from the region’s finest high school musicians. Founded in 1937, the DPYO is one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished youth orchestra programs, soon celebrating its 85th anniversary.
He is a Professor of Music on the faculty of the University of Dayton and recent recipient of the university’s Award in Teaching. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music.
He is married to Sonya Szabo-Reynolds, a pianist, Czech music specialist, and respected piano pedagogue.