Page 5 - Plymouth Phil Annual Report 2019-2020

Steven Karidoyanes

Music Director & Conductor

As a conductor, composer and broadcaster, Boston native Steven Karidoyanes has brought a wealth of
experience to the podium in his 26 seasons as the Phil’s Music Director and Conductor.
This is his 16th season conducting the New England Conservatory Youth Symphony, leading concerts
and international concert tours. Since 2008, he has also been an understudy conductor for the Boston
Pops Orchestra. He made his Boston Pops conducting debut in Symphony Hall in December 2016.
Past guest conducting engagements include Hungary’s Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Hainburg,
Austria, the Prague Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Costa Rica’s National Music Institute Youth
Symphony, and multiple engagements with the North Czech Philharmonic.
He stepped down in 2017 from leading the Masterworks Chorale after a decade, conducting choral/
orchestral masterworks in Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. He has also held the posts of Music Director of
Photo @Susan Wilson the Boston College Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic.
He has served on the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute for ten seasons, and on the
conducting faculty of the New England Conservatory.

Complementing his performing activities, Mr. Karidoyanes is a composer and member of ASCAP. His
composition Yerakina: Dionysian Dance for Orchestra, written for and premiered by the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra, has been performed by the Boston Pops and most recently by the Phil during its
2018-2019 season, which celebrated Karidoyanes’ silver anniversary with the orchestra.
A classical music announcer/producer, he has worked for National Public Radio affiliates in Boston,
North Carolina and Indiana. During the recent lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis, Steven’s voice has
been regularly greeting radio listeners on Friday mornings as he leads the local WATD 95.9 hosts in a
weekly game of “Name That Tune.”
Mr. Karidoyanes holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University and received training in
orchestral conducting at the Canford School of Music in Dorset, England, where he studied with George
Hurst. He lives in Boston with his wife, Amy. They have two sons, Michael and Nicholas. Steven often
says that, though his home may be in West Roxbury, his heart is in Plymouth – and his work in the
community and across the South Shore demonstrates his love for the Phil and his impact on the cultural
vitality of our region.

“Jim and I are both inspired by the sound of music. I

call it the “wow” factor. An orchestra is a combined
effort of musicians and a leader. Our leader, Steven
Karidoyanes, is our “wow”. He is a dedicated
professional with a genuine love for music.”

– Becky Garrett, Composer’s Society member

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