The Most Famous
CONDUCTORS from United States
This page contains a list of the greatest American Conductors. The pantheon dataset contains 97 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 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the 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.
1. Herbert Blomstedt (1927 - )
With an HPI of 59.93, Herbert Blomstedt is the most famous American Conductor. His biography has been translated into 20 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 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.
2. John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932)
With an HPI of 56.88, John Philip Sousa is the 2nd 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. He left the band in 1875, and over the next five years, Sousa performed as a violinist and learned to conduct. In 1880, he rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director, after which Sousa was hired to conduct a band organized by David Blakely, P.S. Gilmore's former agent. Blakely wanted to compete with Gilmore. 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 outbreak of World War I, Sousa was awarded a wartime commission of lieutenant commander 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.
3. James Levine (1943 - 2021)
With an HPI of 56.22, James Levine is the 3rd 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.
4. Kent Nagano (1951 - )
With an HPI of 50.22, Kent Nagano is the 4th most famous American Conductor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Kent George Nagano 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).
5. Charles Mackerras (1925 - 2010)
With an HPI of 50.01, 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.
6. Dennis Russell Davies (1944 - )
With an HPI of 46.32, Dennis Russell Davies is the 6th most famous American Conductor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.
7. Arthur Fiedler (1894 - 1979)
With an HPI of 41.79, Arthur Fiedler is the 7th most famous American Conductor. His biography has been translated into 16 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.
8. Alan Gilbert (1967 - )
With an HPI of 39.75, Alan Gilbert is the 8th most famous American Conductor. His biography has been translated into 15 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.
Pantheon has 8 people classified as conductors born between 1854 and 1967. Of these 8, 4 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living conductors include Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, and Dennis Russell Davies. The most famous deceased conductors include John Philip Sousa, James Levine, and Charles Mackerras. As of April 2022, 3 new conductors have been added to Pantheon including Kent Nagano, Dennis Russell Davies, and Alan Gilbert.
Living Conductors
Go to all Rankings
Herbert Blomstedt
1927 - Present
HPI: 59.93
Kent Nagano
1951 - Present
HPI: 50.22
Dennis Russell Davies
1944 - Present
HPI: 46.32
Alan Gilbert
1967 - Present
HPI: 39.75
Deceased Conductors
Go to all RankingsJohn Philip Sousa
1854 - 1932
HPI: 56.88
James Levine
1943 - 2021
HPI: 56.22
Charles Mackerras
1925 - 2010
HPI: 50.01
Arthur Fiedler
1894 - 1979
HPI: 41.79
Newly Added Conductors (2022)
Go to all RankingsKent Nagano
1951 - Present
HPI: 50.22
Dennis Russell Davies
1944 - Present
HPI: 46.32
Alan Gilbert
1967 - Present
HPI: 39.75
Which Conductors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Conductors since 1700.
