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Announcing the conductors, repertoire highlights, and Valade faculty for Interlochen Arts Camp’s summer 2025 high school ensembles

Cristian Mӑcelaru, Louis Langrée, Jader Bignamini, Steven Davis, Jerry Junkin, and other acclaimed conductors will lead students in an exciting selection of classical and contemporary masterworks.

Members of the 2024 Interlochen Philharmonic share a smile during a rehearsal.

Members of the 2024 Interlochen Philharmonic share a smile during a rehearsal. 

A remarkable cohort of internationally recognized conductors and leading instrumentalists will work with high school orchestra and wind symphony students this summer at Interlochen Arts Camp.

Highlights of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra’s summer 2025 season include Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris; Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11; John Williams’ Overture to The Cowboys; Erich Korngold’s Overture from The Sea Hawk; and Clarice Assad’s “Baião N’ Blues.”

The summer 2025 World Youth Symphony Orchestra conductors are:

  • Jader Bignamini | Music Director, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
  • Louis Langrée | Director, Théâtre national de l’Opéra-Comique; Music Director Laureate, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  • Delyana Lazarova | Winner, 2020 James Conlon Conducting Prize
  • Earl Lee | Music Director, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; Winner, 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award
  • Cristian Mӑcelaru | Musical Director, Orchestre National de France; Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, World Youth Symphony Orchestra; Music Director Designate, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  • Matthias Pintscher | Music Director, Kansas City Symphony

Repertoire for the 2025 Interlochen Philharmonic will include César Franck’s Symphony in D Minor and Stella Sung’s “The Phoenix Rising.” The conductors for the season are:

  • Akiko Fujimoto | Music Director, Mid-Texas Symphony
  • Adam Glaser | Music Director, Juilliard Pre-College Orchestras; Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras, Hofstra University
  • Creston Herron | Director of Orchestral Activities, University of Kansas
  • Louis Langrée | Director, Théâtre national de l’Opéra-Comique; Music Director Laureate, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  • Cristian Mӑcelaru | Musical Director, Orchestre National de France; Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, World Youth Symphony Orchestra; Music Director Designate, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  • Chelsea Tipton | Music Director, Symphony of Southeast Texas; Principal Pops Conductor, New Haven Symphony Orchestra

The World Youth Wind Symphony will celebrate world-renowned composers such as Gilda Lyons, Salvador Brotons, Ingrid Stölzel, Ottorino Respighi, Pablo de Sarasate, Jennifer Higdon, Gerónimo Giménez, and numerous others under the direction of acclaimed conductors including:

  • Caroline Beatty | Director of Bands and Professor of Music, Texas State University
  • Steven D. Davis | Rose Ann Carr Millsap Missouri Distinguished Professor of Music and Director of Bands and Wind Ensemble, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory
  • Jerry Junkin | Vincent R. and Jane D. DiNino Chair for the Director of Bands and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Butler School of Music
  • Sarah McKoin | Director of Bands and Professor of Conducting, Texas Tech University

An additional conductor for the World Youth Wind Symphony will be announced soon.

In addition to these decorated conductors, students will also have the opportunity to learn from the Valade Concertmasters and Valade Fellows—a distinguished cohort of professional string, woodwind, and brass musicians. Valade faculty for summer 2025 include:

  • Flute
  • Oboe
    • Dwight Parry | Principal Oboe, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
    • Linda Strommen | Professor of Oboe, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
  • Clarinet
  • Bassoon
  • Saxophone
    • Timothy McAllister | Associate Professor of Saxophone at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Soprano Saxophone, PRISM Quartet
  • Horn
    • Brad Gemeinhardt | Principal Horn, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
    • Bruce Henniss | Associate Professor of Horn and Area Coordinator of Brass, Ohio State University
  • Trumpet
    • John Aley | Principal Trumpet, Madison Symphony Orchestra
    • Vincent DiMartino | W. George Matton Professor of Music, Emeritus, Centre College
  • Trombone
    • Marco Gómez | Tenor and Bass Trombone, Royal Danish Orchestra
    • Ben Green | Trombone, Berne Symphony Orchestra
  • Tuba
    • Matt Lyon | Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium, Ball State University
    • Philip Sinder | Professor of Tuba and Euphonium, Michigan State University
  • Concertmaster
    • Margaret Batjer | Concertmaster and Director of Chamber Music, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Director, Music Academy, the Colburn School
    • Martin Chalifour | Principal Concertmaster, Los Angeles Philharmonic
    • Jun Iwasaki | Concertmaster, Kansas City Symphony
    • Dennis Kim | Concertmaster, Pacific Symphony
    • Jeff Thayer | Deborah Pate and John Forrest Concertmaster Chair, San Diego Symphony
  • Viola
  • Cello
  • Double Bass
    • Lawrence Hurst | Professor Emeritus of Strings, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
    • Kurt Muroki | Professor of Double Bass, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

Interlochen Arts Camp is the nation’s premier multidisciplinary summer arts program, where emerging artists transform passion and potential into purpose. Guided by internationally renowned artists, campers ages 8 to 18 study music, theatre, dance, visual arts, creative writing, and film in a glorious, natural setting with like-minded peers.

Interlochen Arts Camp’s High School Orchestra & Wind Symphony program transforms students’ instrumental skills through daily rehearsals, weekly private lessons, supplementary musicianship classes, and regular solo, chamber, and large ensemble performance opportunities. Since its first summer 1928, the program has produced thousands of successful alumni, including composer and wind band conductor Frederick Fennell; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra principal cellist Rafael Figueroa; Philadelphia Orchestra principal tubist Carol Jantsch; and New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill.

Applications are now open for all summer 2025 Arts Camp programs; audition requirements vary by program. The Orchestra & Wind Symphony program fills up quickly. Prospective students are encouraged to apply by the Jan. 15, 2025 priority application deadline for placement in their top-choice program.