ABOUT
Artistic Leadership
Our Conductors
Awadagin Pratt
PRincipal conductor
Awadagin Pratt is an acclaimed conductor, pianist, and educator whose career spans more than three decades of musical leadership, performance and curation of memorable musical moments. Through this kaleidoscopic career he shines a light on voices of the past and present, amplifies the diverse talents of today’s brightest creative minds, and paves the way for a new generation of inventive musical artists.
Currently Principal Conductor of the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra in Dayton, Ohio, Pratt is recognized for his dynamic musicality, collaborative approach, and stylistic range across symphonic, operatic, and contemporary repertoire.
Pratt has led orchestras throughout the U.S. and internationally, including the Tokyo City Philharmonic, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra (Tbilisi), Winston-Salem Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Toledo Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and Eastern Music Festival. His programming spans Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky to modern composers such as Jessie Montgomery, Christophe Chagnard, Arvo Pärt, and Ornette Coleman.
Pratt’s 2022 operatic conducting debut with Porgy and Bess at Greensboro Opera drew critical praise. OperaWire wrote that he “conducted Greensboro Opera Orchestra with great care,” noting his engagement with the singers and the “level of individuality” he brought to each piece and Voix des Arts praised his “deft handling of the jazz rhythms that frolic in Gershwin’s music. In concert repertoire, Pratt has continued to win praise for his clarity and drive on the podium. Following his 2024 performance of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Symphony No. 8 with the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described his interpretation as “energetic and cohesive.”
Since 2023, Pratt has led the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra through an ambitious and wide-ranging season of performances, including The Sound of Music, Notes of Love, holiday concerts with the Gem City Ballet, and major symphonic works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, and Pärt. His programming bridges the traditional and the modern with depth and accessibility.
His conducting education began at the University of Illinois and continued at the Peabody Conservatory of Music under Frederik Prausnitz. He further honed his craft through study with Gunther Schuller; at the National Conducting Institute under Leonard Slatkin, where he led the National Symphony Orchestra; and through private mentorship with Lorin Maazel for three years.
An award-winning concert pianist, Pratt also performs as a soloist-conductor, having appeared in that dual role for works by Mozart and Beethoven in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Since winning the Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1992 and receiving a 1994 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Pratt has received acclaim for delivering “forceful, imaginative, and precisely tinted” performances (The Washington Post) and been hailed as “one of the great and distinctive American pianists and conductors of our time” (WGBH). He has appeared at addresses as familiar as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (at the invitation of the Clinton and Obama administrations) and Sesame Street (at the invitation of Big Bird): He has performed with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, and many others; in solo recitals at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; and in chamber music collaborations with cellist Zuill Bailey, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and the Harlem and St. Lawrence String Quartets. His 2023 recording, Stillpoint, explores the truth and beauty in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets through new works byTyshawn Sorey, Paola Prestini, Peteris Vasks, Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Alvin Singleton, and Judd Greenstein.
He served as professor and artist in residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for two decades and is now professor of piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
James Johnston
associate conductor
James Johnston enjoys a varied career as a conductor, performer, arranger and teacher. He has been the Conducting Assistant of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and was the founding Music Director of the Southern Indiana Youth Symphony. Mr. Johnston is the Music Director of the Yellow Springs Chamber Orchestra, Community Chorus, Community Band, and the Dayton Mandolin Orchestra, as well as serving as Music Director and Organist for the First Presbyterian Church in Yellow Springs. Recent performances have included Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait for the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, a semi-staged production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice, Handel’s oratorio Alexander’s Feast, and orchestral selections by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Milhaud.
He currently teaches conducting and humanities at Marian University in Indianapolis, and is on the Performance faculty of Antioch College. Mr. Johnston has also taught and conducted at Indiana University, Bloomington and at Earlham College. In past seasons, he has led successful concerts with the Miami Valley Symphony, and the popular outdoor Symphony-on-the-Green summer concerts for the Muncie Symphony.
His arrangements and performances as a violinist can be heard on the Sony, Dorian, Titanic and North Star labels, and include music for the Christmas season, music from 19th c. America, and music about the game of baseball. Mr. Johnston arranged several pieces heard on the 2005 Public Radio special Carols for Dancing, produced by WGBH radio and played by the group Renaissonics. He also arranged the title music for the 2007 Public Radio New Year’s special Watchnight, which aired on stations nationwide. Mr. Johnston studied at Bucknell University, the New England Conservatory, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and conducting at the Pierre Monteux School and the Aspen Music School.
patrick reynolds
associate conductor
Dr. Patrick Reynolds is a Professor Emeritus of Music in his 30th year on the faculty at the University of Dayton, returning in 2025-26 as an adjunct member of the faculty. His career as a conductor has been enhanced by the variety and range of his experience, including youth, professional, academic and community orchestras. He is a widely respected conductor and music educator, recognized particularly for his sustained record of community-engaged outreach and collaboration. At the University of Dayton, he has taught courses in fundamental and advanced instrumental conducting, and continues to lead the University Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. In 2020 Dr. Reynolds received the University of Dayton Faculty Award in Teaching.
In addition to his work at the university, Dr. Reynolds served for 27 years as Associate Conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO). In an over 25-year commitment to the development and presentation of educational concerts, both with the DPO and nationally with professional orchestras, his performances reached tens of thousands of young listeners. In addition, Dr. Reynolds conducted the DPO in classical, pops, family and rock series concerts, and in Dayton Opera productions of Verdi’s La Traviata, Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Mozart’sThe Magic Flute, Menotti’s The Consul and Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance and Puccini’sLa Boheme. For 25 years he served as conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, an organization selected from the most gifted young musicians in the Dayton region.
Dr. Reynolds is a member of Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners. The College is made up of over 350 distinguished professional teachers and performers from across North America. College members provide evaluations on behalf of the Royal Conservatory, offering valuable feedback, and celebrating the achievement of musicians participating in the Royal Conservatory Certificate Program. In addition, he serves on the College Orchestra Directors Association National Board and is currently President-elect. He will become the organization’s President in January 2026.
Patrick Reynolds earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and the Master and Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan. He is married to Sonya Szabo-Reynolds, a pianist, well-respected pedagogue and past president of Ohio Music Teachers Association.