Blair Skinner

Assistant Conductor, 2014-2018

Described by Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun as a “remarkably fluid and expressive” conductor, Blair Skinner currently serves as the Founder and Music Director of Charm City Collegium, conductor of Operation:Opera, the Assistant Conductor of the Prince George’s Philharmonic, and conductor of Synesthesia, a performance art collaboration between musicians and composers from the Peabody Conservatory and visual artists from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has previously been involved as Resident Conductor of Baltimore’s Figaro Project, as well as a cover conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Baltimore.

He has led performances with the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa, ON), the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the North Shore Chamber Orchestra, the Repertory Opera Theater of Washington, The Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Chamber Opera, The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, The Northwestern University Philharmonia, the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra and Opera Music Theater, and with members of Ensemble Dal Niente, one of Chicago’s leading new music ensembles.

He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as a conducting student of Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. He received a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University under the mentorship of Victor Yamposlky.

Additional studies have taken place at the Tanglewood Music Center, National Arts Center, Pierre Monteux School, International Conducting Workshop and Festival, and the Brevard Music Center. Other conducting influences include John Nelson, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleischer, Stefan Asbury, Mario Venzago, Marin Alsop, Michael Jinbo, Paul Vermel, Kenneth Kiesler, Mallory Thompson, and Robert Hasty.

Updated July 2018