Diane Wittry

Diane Wittry is an American musical conductor, named by Musical America as one of the “30 Top Professionals 2015.” She is currently the Music Director and Conductor of both the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania (since 1995), and the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Ridgewood Symphony in New Jersey (since 2013). Additionally, Wittry is the Artistic Director for the International Cultural Exchange Program with the Sarajevo Philharmonic in Bosnia. From 2002-2010 Wittry served seven seasons as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Norwalk Symphony in Connecticut.

Wittry is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) with a degree in violin performance and a master's degree in conducting. In 2013, Wittry was named the “Outstanding Alumnus of the Thornton School of Music” at USC. Wittry studied conducting with Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Maxwell Davies, Gustav Meier, and Jorge Mester.

Diane Wittry has conducted concerts all over the world, including in Japan, Canada, Bosnia, Russia, Slovakia, New York, Washington D.C, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and California, as well as her regularly scheduled concerts with the orchestras in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where she places special emphasis on “connecting her ensembles with their communities.” She is known as a conductor who “specializes in finding creative ways to make the music fresh, accessible, and exciting.”

In the United States, Diane Wittry has led performances by, among others, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the Little Orchestra Society of New York, and the symphony orchestras of Milwaukee, San Diego, Houston, New Jersey, Santa Barbara, Augusta, Stockton, Pottstown, Wichita, and Wichita Falls; while her international engagements include concerts with the Sarajevo Philharmonic in Bosnia, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Russia’s Maikop and Sochi symphony orchestras, Slovakia’s State Orchestra-Kosice, Italy’s Sinfonia Dell’Arte di Firenze, Canada’s Niagara Symphony, and Japan’s Orchestra Osaka Symphony. She has also conducted at the Ojai Music Festival as well as at the music festivals of Penn’s Woods (PA), and I-Park (CT).

Diane Wittry joined the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in 1995. At that time, she was the music director and conductor of the Symphony of Southeast Texas and conductor of the Lamar Chamber Orchestra, both in Beaumont, Texas, as well as assistant conductor of the Pasadena Symphony.

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