Biography

Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras, institutions, and artists to reinvent the concert experience. His ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with Metallica, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. He is music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

Last season Mr. Outwater made his BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall. Other international appearances include engagements with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony, Nagoya Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. In Canada he led the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the symphonies of Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Victoria.

Since 2021 Mr. Outwater has been the main conductor for Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra concerts. In October 2022 he premiered his newest production, Symphony of Terror, with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and co-host and collaborator Peaches Christ. This December he will present the London premiere of A Christmas Gaiety at the Royal Albert Hall with Peaches Christ and BBC Concert Orchestra.
Mr. Outwater holds a long association with San Francisco Symphony since making his debut in November 2001. The 2021–22 season saw performances in the SoundBox Series, concert appearances with Boyz II Men, and the world premiere of the Judy Garland Centennial concert Get Happy! He was formerly San Francisco Symphony Resident Conductor, Director of Summer Concerts, and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

A native of Santa Monica, Mr. Outwater graduated cum laude in English literature from Harvard, where he was music director of the Bach Society Orchestra and the a cappella group Harvard Din and Tonics. He received his degree in conducting from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied with Heiichiro Ohyama and Paul Polivnick; he also studied music theory and composition with John Stewart, Joel Feigin, and Leonard Stein.

(11/2022)