1. Dimitri Tiomkin (1894)

American Conductor

Russian-born Hollywood composer best known for his work in westerns. He scored some of Hollywood's greatest westerns, including in High Noon in 1952 and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in...

2. John Philip Sousa (1854)

American Conductor

Known as the American March King, he is remembered for "The Stars and Stripes Forever." His song "Semper Fidelis" became the United States Marine Corps' official march.

3. Otto Klemperer (1885)

American Conductor

Leading 20th-century conductor. He was influenced by Gustav Mahler. He fled to America in 1933 after the Nazis came to power.

4. Arthur Fiedler (1894)

American Conductor

Conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 50 years. He insisted on making music lighthearted and popular.

5. Eugene Ormandy (1899)

American Conductor

Violin prodigy and former conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

6. Andre Kostelanetz (1901)

American Conductor

Russian conductor and musical director whose only radio show "Andre Kostelanetz Presents" was broadcast in the 1930s. He specialized in light classical music pieces and orchestral arrangements of Broadway show...

7. Antonia Brico (1902)

American Conductor

The first female composer to conduct the New York Philharmonic. She founded the Women's String Ensemble in Denver, Colorado, after settling there in 1942.

8. Ray Heindorf (1908)

American Conductor

Film composer who worked for Warner Bros. for nearly 40 years. His screen credits included "42nd Street," "Gold Diggers of 1935," "The Great Lie," "Knute Rockne All American," "A Streetcar...

9. Irwin Kostal (1911)

American Conductor

Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer best known for his work in film and on Broadway. He worked on such productions as "Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall" from 1962, "Mary Poppins"...

10. Norman Luboff (1917)

American Conductor

American music arranger known for scoring television programs and films, and for serving as the choir director at The Railroad Hour.

11. Sarah Caldwell (1924)

American Conductor

A longtime opera impresario who put on performances of notoriously difficult works and infused them with modern visual effects.

12. Alice Parker (1925)

American Conductor

American composer and conductor of vocal and choral music. She recorded numerous albums, including And Glory Shone and O Sing the Glories, with a vocal group called The Musicians of...

13. Leon Fleisher (1928)

American Conductor

Once called "the pianistic find of the century." He persevered even after his right hand was afflicted with focal dystonia.

14. Anshel Brusilow (1928)

American Conductor

Founder of the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, Brusilow has performed with many orchestras and symphonies, as well as having recorded albums for RCA Victor.

15. Johnny Mann (1928)

American Conductor

Remembered for his work with The Johnny Mann Singers, this bandleader, songwriter, and vocal arranger received two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three more. He also music directed The...

16. André Previn (1929)

American Conductor

Award-winning musician who scored many films and became known as one of the world's most versatile musical artists. He won Academy Awards for his work on the scores of "Gigi" from...

17. Lorin Maazel (1930)

American Conductor

Music director who worked with many famous musical organizations, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

18. Dave Grusin (1934)

American Conductor

Prolific composer who worked mainly in TV and film, but began focusing on classical and jazz composition in 2000. His first film score was for "Divorce American Style" from 1967....

19. Carl Davis (1936)

American Conductor

London Philharmonic Orchestra director who became known for creating accompanying music for silent films. He was the co-creator, along with Paul McCartney, of the Liverpool Oratorio.

20. Jaime Laredo (1941)

American Conductor

Violinist who was selected to be the Conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

21. James Levine (1943)

American Conductor

Conductor who served as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera for four decades. He conducted a record 2,442 performances.

22. David Holsinger (1945)

American Conductor

Composer and musical conductor whose pieces for symphonic band include American Faces, Battle Music, Gmyway's Revenge!, To Tame the Perilous Skies, and Texas Promenade.

23. Leon Botstein (1946)

American Conductor

Swiss conductor who became Bard College's 14th president in 1975.

24. Ray Reach (1948)

American Conductor

Prominent pianist, music teacher, and vocalist who crossed many genres, including pop, R&B, soul, gospel, and rock.

25. James Conlon (1950)

American Conductor

The conductor and music director of the Los Angeles Opera and the Ravinia Festival.

26. Gerard Schwarz (1947)

American Conductor

Seattle Symphony Orchestra's music director from 1985 to 2001.

27. Murray Perahia (1947)

American Conductor

Concert musician who suffered major hand injuries in the early 1990s, halting his career while he underwent several operations.

28. Jeffrey Kahane (1956)

American Conductor

Became music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 1997. He performed with many of the major orchestras in the world.

29. Patrick Kavanaugh (1954)

American Conductor

Composer, conductor, and writer best known for his classical style of composition. He wrote "Music of the Spheres," "The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers," "Worship-A Way of Life," and...

30. JoAnn Falletta (1954)

American Conductor

Creator and conductor of classical music who has served as music director of orchestras like the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She has released more than 70 albums during her prolific career.

31. Steven Reineke (1970)

American Conductor

Conductor, music arranger, and composer who became Music Director of The New York Pops in 2009, the largest indie pop orchestra in the U.S. He has performed at the Hollywood...

32. Alan Pierson (1974)

American Conductor

Alan Emanuel Pierson is an American conductor. His parents are Elaine Pierson and Edward S. Pierson the latter an engineering professor at Purdue University Calumet. Pierson is a 1996 graduate...

33. Eugene Tzigane (1981)

American Conductor

Eugene Tzigane is an American conductor the son of a Japanese mother and an American father.

34. Michael Christie (conductor) (1974)

American Conductor

Michael Christie is an American conductor. He graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance. His conducting teachers have included Peter Jaffe Eiji...

35. Michael Ching (1958)

American Conductor

Michael Ching is an American composer and conductor. Ching was born in Honolulu in 1958 and raised in New Orleans and St. Paul Minnesota. He attended Duke University where he...

36. Peter Rodgers Melnick (1958)

American Conductor

Peter Rodgers Melnick is a composer for film television and musical theatre. Melnick is the son of Daniel Melnick and Linda Rodgers and grandson of Richard Rodgers. Melnick grew up...

37. Herbert Blomstedt (1927)

American Conductor

Herbert Blomstedt is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield Massachusetts and two years after his birth his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of...

38. David Robertson (conductor) (1958)

American Conductor

David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He is currently music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

39. Eve Queler (1931)

American Conductor

Eve Queler is an American conductor and the emerita Artistic Director of the Opera Orchestra of New York. She founded the OONY in 1971 after having worked on the staffs...

40. Joel Spiegelman (1933)

American Conductor

Joel Spiegelman is an American composer conductor concert pianist harpsichordist recording artist arranger author and teacher. As a composer Spiegelman has been widely known for his blending of techniques from...

41. Loris Ohannes Chobanian (1933)

American Conductor

Loris Ohannes Chobanian is an accomplished Armenian-American composer of classical music expert conductor and guitar and lute teacher and performer. A naturalized US citizen he served as Professor of Composition...

42. Roger Bobo (1938)

American Conductor

Roger Bobo is an American tuba virtuoso and brass pedagogue. He retired from active tuba performance in 2001 in order to devote his time to conducting and teaching. He gave...

43. George N. Parks (1953)

American Conductor

George Nathan Parks was the director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band at University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1977 until his sudden death in 2010. Considered a national...

44. Hugh Wolff (1953)

American Conductor

Hugh Wolff is an American conductor. He was born in Paris while his father was serving in the U. S. Foreign Service then spent his primary-school years in London. He...

45. John McGlinn (1953)

American Conductor

John Alexander McGlinn III was an American conductor and musical theatre archivist. He was one of the principal proponents of authentic studio cast recordings of Broadway musicals using original orchestrations...

46. David Campbell (composer) (1948)

American Conductor

David Richard Campbell is a Canadian-American arranger composer and conductor.

47. Paul O'Dette (1954)

American Conductor

Paul R. O'Dette is an American lutenist conductor and musicologist specializing in early music. O'Dette began playing the electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus Ohio where he grew...

48. Jo-Michael Scheibe (1950)

American Conductor

Jo-Michael Scheibe chairs the Thornton School of Music’s Department of Choral and Sacred Music at the University of Southern California where he conducts the USC Chamber Singers teaches choral conducting...

49. Richard Sparks (1950)

American Conductor

Richard Andrew Sparks is an American choral conductor. He is one of the leading figures in choral music in the Pacific Northwest and in Scandinavian especially Swedish a cappella choral...

50. Richard Bernas (1950)

American Conductor

Richard Bernas is a British-based conductor. He studied Music at York University and conducting with Witold Rowicki in Warsaw. After a period working as a pianist and percussionist – when...