Akira Endo (conductor)
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Akira Endo is a Japanese-American conductor and music educator. He studied violin and conducting at the University of Southern California where he earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree.
Maestro Endo has held conducting posts with the American Ballet Theatre, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and the Hamilton Philharmonic in Calgary, Canada. He has appeared as guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Central and South America, and in Europe, most notably at the Tivoli Festival in Denmark, the Santander Festival in Spain, Athens Festival in Greece, the Arena de Verona in Italy, the Nervis Festival in Genoa, and at the Edinburgh Festival with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. A devoted music educator, he has also appeared as guest conductor for the Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas All-State High School Honor Orchestras.
Maestro Endo has twice received prizes from Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Conductors at Carnegie Hall and ASCAP for adventuresome programming with the Louisville Orchestra. Upon the recommendation of the late Leonard Bernstein, Maestro Endo assumed directorship of the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra in March of 1969. He enjoyed an illustrious career with the American Ballet Theatre, remaining for ten years, during which time he worked with many major dancers from around the world, most notably Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev. He also led the western debut performances of both Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova.
Maestro Endo currently serves as Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder as well as the Conductor of the Colorado Ballet. Prior to his post at Colorado, he served as the Director of Orchestral Activities and as Chairman of the Department of Instrumental Performance at the University of Miami. He has been a visiting professor at such institutions as Stanford University (Palo Alto, California), Rice University (Houston, Texas), California State University, Long Beach, Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and the University of Oklahoma.
