Daniel Hege is widely recognized as one of America's finest young conductors, earning critical acclaim for his fresh interpretations of the standard repertoire and for his commitment to creative programming. He served for eleven seasons as the Music Director of the Syracuse Symphony and in June 2009, was appointed Music Director of the Wichita Symphony, beginning his tenure with that orchestra in September 2010.

In April 2003, Mr. Hege led the Syracuse Symphony in a critically acclaimed concert at a sold-out Carnegie Hall. He has also made two recordings - a disc with the Baltimore Symphony and the Morgan State University Choir featuring works by Adolphus Hailstork and a CD with the Syracuse Symphony with works by Verdi, Barber, Debussy, Respighi and James Johnson.

In May 2004, Mr. Hege was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Le Moyne College in Syracuse for his contributions to the cultural life in central New York State. Born in Colorado, Mr. Hege currently resides in Syracuse with his wife, Katarina Oladottir Hege, a violinist, and their three daughters.

Nicholas Cleobury has an international reputation in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio, and as a lecturer and teacher.
He is the Artistic Director of Mid Wales Opera, Principal Conductor of the John Armitage Memorial (JAM), Principal Conductor and Founder Director of Sounds New and Principal Conductor of the Oxford Bach Choir. He is also Founder Laureate of the Britten Sinfonia.

Cleobury has conducted most of the leading symphony and chamber orchestras of Great Britain, including the English Chamber, Halle, London Mozart Players, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Northern Sinfonia, Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool and Royal
Philharmonic Orchestras, Royal Scottish National, Scottish Chamber, Ulster and all the BBC Orchestras. Further afield, he has worked
with orchestras including Aalborg Symphony, Aarhus Symphony, Belgian National, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic,
Gulbenkian, Lithuanian Chamber, Irish Chamber, Slovenian Radio, Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Tonhalle Zurich and Trondheim
Symphony, while further afield he has worked with orchestras in Melbourne, Singapore and South Africa (Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, Kwa Zulu Natal Orchestra/Durban and Johannesburg Philharmonic.) He has also appeared at festivals in Austria, Belgium, France, Poland, Spain and the USA and at major British festivals, and at the BBC Proms.

Cleobury has given over 100 premieres, is a fervent champion of new music and has worked closely with many notable contemporary
composers, such as Bennett, Boulez, Birtwistle, Maxwell Davies, Henze, Ligeti, Macmillan, Patterson, Ruders, Tavener and Turnage and
collaborated extensively with the late Sir Michael Tippett. He has conducted many leading specialist new music ensembles including Aquarius, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfonietta, Die Reihe (Vienna) and Opera Nova (Zurich) and contemporary groups at most of the major Music Colleges. In 1997, he founded Sounds New to bring contemporary music to a wider public. Actively involved in creative projects with student composers of all ages, he has also
worked widely with young musicians and students, notably at the Royal Academy of Music, and also the Birmingham Conservatoire, GSMD, RCM, RSAMD and Trinity Laban, as well as conducting a number of youth orchestra, including the London Schools Symphony and
Northern Junior Philharmonic.

A regular broadcaster with the BBC, Classic fM and on European radio, Nicholas Cleobury’s discography includes highly- regarded recordings of Mozart Concertos with the Britten Sinfonia and RPO, an award-winning CD of the music of Richard Strauss for EMI, Bridge, Headington, Maw and English Music with the Britten Sinfonia, and many others including the Chopin Piano Concertos and A Spanish Fiesta with the RPO.

Highlights this season and beyond include tours with Mid Wales Opera, return visits to orchestras including the RPO, Sonderjylland and Odense, and engagements further afield in Hong Kong and the USA (with both Opera Omaha and the Omaha Symphony Orchestra).