Teddy Abrams
conductor
Grammy Award-winning conductor-composer Teddy Abrams is in his 13th season as Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra (LO) and has been the galvanizing force behind the ensemble’s extraordinary artistic renewal and innovative social impact. This fall he assumes the role of Artistic and Executive Director of the Ojai Music Festival while continuing his role in Louisville. Abrams was chosen as Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year, and his work has been profiled by CBS Sunday Morning, PBS News Hour, NPR, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, which hailed him as a “maestro of the people” who “has embedded himself in his community, breaking the mold of modern conductors.”
In the 2026/27 season, Abrams conducts the world premiere of his own Seasons in America for violin and orchestra, with soloist Ray Chen and the co-commissioning Los Angeles Philharmonic, following his appearance with Yuja Wang at the LA Phil Gala. Co-commissioned with the Louisville Orchestra, the work will be reprised in Louisville. Abrams opened the season on a European tour with Wang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with stops in Slovenia, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. He leads the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in two separate programs, debuts with the St. Louis Symphony and Naples Philharmonic, and returns to the San Francisco Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra. Abrams also conducts the Juilliard Orchestra and Curtis Symphony Orchestra, reflecting his commitment to music education and mentorship.
