Biography
Conductor
Teddy Abrams
Teddy Abrams, a Grammy Award winner and Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year, has been the galvanizing force behind the Louisville Orchestra’s artistic renewal since his appointment as Music Director in September 2014.
Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra began their 2024–25 season with Carl Orff’s Carmina burana with the Louisville Chamber Choir, followed by Ray Chen performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, debut works from members of the 2024–25 Creators Corps, Valerie Coleman’s Concerto for Orchestra, and a staged production of Viktor Ullmann’s chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis. In demand as a guest conductor, he makes his debut this season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony conducting debut in 2012.
In April 2023, Abrams premiered his own composition Mammoth with the Louisville Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, and in 2024 his piano concerto for Yuja Wang won a Grammy Award.
Abrams first came to the attention of Michael Tilson Thomas when he wrote him a letter at age nine. MTT became a mentor, and they have been working together ever since. Abrams was a conducting fellow at the New World Symphony and he has also been a champion of MTT’s compositions.
Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra began their 2024–25 season with Carl Orff’s Carmina burana with the Louisville Chamber Choir, followed by Ray Chen performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, debut works from members of the 2024–25 Creators Corps, Valerie Coleman’s Concerto for Orchestra, and a staged production of Viktor Ullmann’s chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis. In demand as a guest conductor, he makes his debut this season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony conducting debut in 2012.
In April 2023, Abrams premiered his own composition Mammoth with the Louisville Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, and in 2024 his piano concerto for Yuja Wang won a Grammy Award.
Abrams first came to the attention of Michael Tilson Thomas when he wrote him a letter at age nine. MTT became a mentor, and they have been working together ever since. Abrams was a conducting fellow at the New World Symphony and he has also been a champion of MTT’s compositions.
