Scott Speck joined the Mobile Symphony in 2000 as its first full-time music director and is now in his 17th season. Under his leadership, the orchestra has grown to become one of the central Gulf Coast’s most outstanding performing arts organizations.
A masterful conductor with a wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire, deep experience in programming, and a terrific sense of what will engage audiences – old and new. His gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie and Olga Kern have been highlights of his years as music director of the MSO. This season’s exciting lineup of concerts further illustrates the depth and breadth of his knowledge and experience.
Speck also holds positions as Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Philharmonic and West Michigan Symphony. He previously held positions as Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet; Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony; and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. During a tour of Asia he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing. He was also invited to the White House as Music Director of the Washington Ballet. Speck is co-author of the world’s best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience: Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies and Ballet for Dummies. He has been a regular commentator on National Public Radio, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of Russia, broadcast throughout the world.
Born in Boston, Scott Speck graduated summa cum laude from Yale University. There he founded and directed the Berkeley Chamber Orchestra, which continues to perform to this day. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Berlin, where he founded Concerto Grosso Berlin, an orchestra dedicated to the performances of Baroque and Classical music in a historically informed style. He received his Master’s Degree with highest honors from the University of Southern California, served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen School of Music, and studied at the Tanglewood Music Center. He is fluent in English, German and French, has a diploma in Italian, speaks Spanish and has a reading knowledge of Russian.