James Bagwell

James Bagwell maintains an active international schedule as a conductor of choral, operatic, and orchestral music. For sixteen seasons he has served as Music Director for The May Festival Youth Chorus in Cincinnati. In 2009 he was appointed music director of The Collegiate Chorale and principal guest conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra, leading them in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Since 2003 he has been director of choruses for the Bard Music Festival, conducting and preparing choral works during the summer festival. And at Bard’s SummerScape Festival he has led a number of critically acclaimed performances of opera, operetta, and musical theatre and served as chorus master for the opera productions since 2009.

Active as a guest conductor across the United States and abroad, he has conducted choral and orchestral works with The Cincinnati Symphony, The Jerusalem Symphony, and The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. For two seasons he has guest conducted the Amici New York Orchestra at the OK Mozart Festival, and has recently begun a collaboration with singer Natalie Merchant appearing with orchestras across the country including the Seattle, San Francisco, Nashville, and North Carolina Symphonies among others.

For ten seasons he conducted some 25 productions as music director of Light Opera Oklahoma. From 2005-2010 he was music director of The Dessoff Choirs in New York, who under his leadership made numerous appearances at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, in addition to the regular season. He holds degrees from Birmingham-Southern College, Florida State University, and Indiana University. Since 2000 he has taught at Bard College, where he is Professor of Music and chair of the undergraduate music department.