The Most Famous

CONDUCTORS from United States

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This page contains a list of the greatest American Conductors. The pantheon dataset contains 128 Conductors, 8 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the 5th most number of Conductors behind Russia, and Italy.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Conductors of all time. This list of famous American Conductors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Conductors.

Photo of Herbert Blomstedt

1. Herbert Blomstedt (b. 1927)

With an HPI of 60.00, Herbert Blomstedt is the most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (Swedish: [ˈhæ̌rːbɛʈ ˈblʊ̌mːstɛt]; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Adolf Blomstedt (1898–1981) and his wife Alida Armintha Thorson (1899–1957). Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Royal College of Music and the University of Uppsala, followed by studies of contemporary music at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 1949, Baroque music with Paul Sacher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and further conducting studies with Igor Markevitch, Jean Morel at the Juilliard School, and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center. Blomstedt also lived in Finland during his youth. He won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize in 1953 and the Salzburg Conducting Competition in 1955. Blomstedt is most noted for his performances of German and Austrian composers, such as Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss and Paul Hindemith, and also as a champion of Scandinavian composers, such as Edvard Grieg, Franz Berwald, Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen. A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Blomstedt does not rehearse on Friday nights or Saturdays, the Sabbath in Seventh-day Adventism. He does, however, conduct concerts, since he considers actual performances to be an expression of his religious devotion rather than secular work. He has been Music Director or Principal Conductor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (1954–1962), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (1962–1968), Danish Radio Symphony (1967–1977) and Swedish Radio Symphony (1977–1982). From 1975 to 1985, he served as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, in the process making many well-regarded recordings, including works of Richard Strauss and the complete Beethoven and Schubert symphonies, and leading the orchestra on international tours. Blomstedt was music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1985 to 1995. He led the orchestra on regular tours of Europe and Asia, and made numerous prize-winning recordings for London/Decca, winning two Grammy Awards, a Gramophone Award and a Grand Prix du Disque, as well as awards from Belgium, Germany and Japan. After leaving San Francisco full-time, Blomstedt held principal conductorships with the North German Radio Symphony (1996–1998) and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (1998–2005). Blomstedt is currently Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony and Honorary Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Staatskapelle Dresden.

Photo of James Levine

2. James Levine (1943 - 2021)

With an HPI of 56.59, James Levine is the 2nd most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

James Lawrence Levine ( liv-EYEN; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 12, 2018, over sexual misconduct allegations, which he denied. Levine held leadership positions with the Ravinia Festival, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1980 he started the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, and trained singers, conductors, and musicians for professional careers. After taking an almost two-year health-related hiatus from conducting from 2011 to 2013, during which time he held artistic and administrative planning sessions at the Met, and led training of the Lindemann Young Artists, Levine retired as the Met's full-time Music Director following the 2015–16 season to become Music Director Emeritus.

Photo of John Philip Sousa

3. John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932)

With an HPI of 56.00, John Philip Sousa is the 3rd most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

John Philip Sousa ( SOO-zə, SOO-sə, Portuguese: [ˈso(w)zɐ]; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford. Among Sousa's best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America), "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps), "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post". Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. Sousa's father enlisted him in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. Sousa left the band in 1875, and over the next five years, he performed as a violinist and learned to conduct. In 1880, Sousa rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director. In 1892 he left the Marine Band and organized the civilian Sousa Band. From 1880 until his death, Sousa focused exclusively on conducting and writing music. He aided in the development of the sousaphone, a large brass instrument similar to the helicon and tuba. Upon the United States joining World War I, Sousa was awarded a wartime commission of lieutenant to lead the Naval Reserve Band in Illinois. He then returned to conduct the Sousa Band until his death in 1932. In the 1920s, Sousa was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant commander in the naval reserve.

Photo of Kent Nagano

4. Kent Nagano (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 51.66, Kent Nagano is the 4th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Kent George Nagano OC, GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Hamburg State Opera (until 2025).

Photo of Charles Mackerras

5. Charles Mackerras (1925 - 2010)

With an HPI of 49.90, Charles Mackerras is the 5th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon.

Photo of Dennis Russell Davies

6. Dennis Russell Davies (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 48.06, Dennis Russell Davies is the 6th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He is chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Photo of Robert Craft

7. Robert Craft (1923 - 2015)

With an HPI of 43.69, Robert Craft is the 7th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.

Photo of Arthur Fiedler

8. Arthur Fiedler (1894 - 1979)

With an HPI of 42.75, Arthur Fiedler is the 8th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the United States. Fiedler was sometimes criticized for over-popularizing music, particularly when adapting popular songs or editing portions of the classical repertoire, but he kept performances informal and sometimes self-mocking to attract a bigger audience.

Photo of Alan Gilbert

9. Alan Gilbert (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 41.38, Alan Gilbert is the 9th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Alan Gilbert (born February 23, 1967) is an American conductor and violinist. He is Principal Conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Music Director of Royal Swedish Opera. He was Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 2009 to 2017.

Photo of Anton Coppola

10. Anton Coppola (1917 - 2020)

With an HPI of 38.55, Anton Coppola is the 10th most famous American Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Antonio Francesco Coppola (March 21, 1917 – March 9, 2020) was an American opera conductor and composer. He was the uncle of film director Francis Ford Coppola, academic August Coppola, and actress Talia Shire, as well as the great-uncle of Nicolas Cage, Christopher Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman, and the younger brother of American composer and musician Carmine Coppola.

People

Pantheon has 10 people classified as American conductors born between 1854 and 1967. Of these 10, 4 (40.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American conductors include Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, and Dennis Russell Davies. The most famous deceased American conductors include James Levine, John Philip Sousa, and Charles Mackerras. As of April 2024, 2 new American conductors have been added to Pantheon including Robert Craft, and Anton Coppola.

Living American Conductors

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Deceased American Conductors

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Newly Added American Conductors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Conductors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Conductors since 1700.