Edwin Outwater

Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras, institutions and artists to reinvent the concert experience. His effortless ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with a wide range of artists, ranging from Metallica to Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma.

“I am thrilled to join the BBC Concert Orchestra team. Our work together so far has covered quite a lot of musical ground, and it all has been an absolute joy... I can’t wait to see what we create together in the years ahead”

He is Music Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, overseeing their ensembles, as well as shaping the artistic initiatives of this dynamic institution as a whole. He is also Music Director Laureate of Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony which he led from 2007-2017, bringing the orchestra to international acclaim with tours and collaborative projects, and a critically praised recording, From Here On Out.

Recent appearances include performances with New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and New World Symphony as well as Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a multi-concert series opening the Steinmetz Hall in Florida. He has conducted a variety of shows featuring acclaimed performers such as Diana Ross, Beck, Harry Connick Jr., Dispatch, and Leslie Odom Jr., as well as Lang Lang’s ‘The Disney Book’.

International appearances include Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchesta of Wwales, Brussels Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. In Canada, he has led the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the symphonies of Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg. Since the 2021 Season, Outwater has been the main conductor for Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra concerts conducting orchestras such as San Diego Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Utah Symphony Orchestra.

Outwater frequently collaborates with drag performer, producer and filmmaker Peaches Christ, co-hosting and conducting new productions that feature prominent guest stars from the world of drag, pop, and musical theatre. Recent recordings include Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined with Lara Downes and SFCM orchestra, the GRAMMY-award winning Philharmonia Fantastique with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Mason Bates, a live recording with the American art collective and rock band, The Residents, and Portals, the debut solo EP of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett