Yale School of Music Appoints Next Orchestra Director

Elizabeth Askren will assume directorship of the Yale Symphony Orchestra from September 2025

The Yale School of Music has welcomed conductor Elizabeth Askren as its next director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra (YSO) and associate professor adjunct as of the 2025/26 academic year.

She succeeds William Boughton, who retired after serving the role for the last seven years. The search committee comprised faculty and staff from across Yale University, and involved input from the members and student leaders of the YSO. 

Askren is currently Hawai’i Opera Theatre’s first principal guest conductor and a music staff member at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. 

She is also the founder and artistic director of Romania’s first opera studio, the Transylvanian Opera Academy, and the creator of MaestraMagic!, an initiative designed to introduce young people to classical music. 

As an educator, she has taught at the Opera national de Paris’ Academy and was the inaugural judge for the Paris Philharmonic’s La Maestra Competition and Academy for women conductors. Her other projects include being music director of the opera Sensorium Ex by composer Paola Prestini and poet Brenda Shaughnessey. 

Her achievements also involve winning an OPERA America Opera Grant, being a laureate of France’s ADAMI and the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute, and receiving fellowships from the Salzburg Mozarteum, Royaumont Foundation, and the Aldeburgh Festival.  

Askren is a graduate of the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, Bard College, and schools in France and Romania. Her mentors have included Marin Alsop, Lorin Maazel, and Janos Fuerst and pianists Byron Janis, Sergio Perticaroli, and Germaine Tocatlian. 

“We’re beyond excited to welcome lauded conductor Elizabeth Askren as the next Director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and Associate Professor Adjunct at YSM!” Yale shared on Facebook. “A lifelong advocate for mentorship, accessibility, and inclusive excellence, she will join us in the 2025–2026 academic year.”

“I am deeply honored — and excited! — to announce my appointment [at Yale],” Askren added on Instagram. “I would like to pay homage to my teachers who took such care to share their gifts of musicianship and wisdom … I would also like to thank all of the students, pre-professional and young professional musicians with whom I’ve had the joy to collaborate over the years. We are waiting to welcome you at Yale’s concerts, lectures, and other public events, whether in person or remotely! … I cannot wait to join the Yale community and work with everyone!”