Micah Gleason

About Micah Gleason

Micah Gleason, an “easygoing yet fiercely skilled conductor and singer” (NYT), recently completed a Conducting Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music as mentee of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, was chosen by the Dallas Opera for its renowned Hart Institute for Women Conductors and is a recipient of the 2024 Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Award.

Interdisciplinary collaboration and community building are at the core of Micah’s music-making. She is curious about the most effective ways to disrupt the stasis and comfort of the modern concert hall; and how artists across disciplines, activists, and researchers can most effectively collaborate.

At home in the worlds of symphonic music and opera, Micah has conducted notable ensembles including The Spoleto Festival Orchestra, The Orchestra Now, the Dallas Opera Orchestra, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and the Eastern Festival Orchestra; served as Music Director for the Musicians of Ma’alwyck’s production of Argento’s A Waterbird Talk as well as The Final Veil Opera world premiere at The Cell Theater, served as assistant conductor for productions with Opera Philadelphia, The Glimmerglass Festival, Juilliard Vocal Arts, Curtis Opera Theater, and Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program.

While obtaining her Masters degrees in Conducting and Vocal Arts at Bard College-Conservatory of Music, studying under James Bagwell and Stephanie Blythe, respectively, she served as the assistant conductor of the Bard Symphonic Chorus, conductor of the Bard Opera Workshop, and as the assistant opera conductor for the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, is an alumna of several notable training programs such as the Aspen Music Festival and the Conducting Institute at Oxford, and was one of eight inaugural vocal fellows at the Crested Butte Music Festival.

Micah was named a 2021 conducting fellow at the Eastern Music Festival, where she studied with Gerard Schwarz, and was recognized by The Gena Branscombe Foundation with their 2021 Emerging Conductor Award. Micah was also named a semi-finalist in the 2022 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and won second place in The American Prize in Conducting competition.