Lansing Symphony Orchestra Announces Five Finalists in Music Director Search
(Lansing, MI) – [April 1, 2026] – The Lansing Symphony Orchestra today announced five finalists in its search for the Orchestra’s next Music Director. Selected from a pool of approximately 140 applicants from around the world, these candidates will lead the orchestra during the 2026–27 season as part of the final phase of a comprehensive search.
The five finalists are Scott Seaton, Yue Bao, Joshua Gersen, Shizuo Kuwahara, and James Blachly.
Each finalist will conduct a residency week that includes rehearsals, performances, and opportunities to engage with musicians, staff, board members, and the broader Lansing community. Feedback from audiences and stakeholders will play an important role in the final selection process. The Lansing Symphony Orchestra expects to announce its next Music Director in summer of 2027.
The Five Finalists
Scott Seaton
Guest Conducting: October 2, 2026
American conductor Scott Seaton has been praised for his “finesse, clarity, and precision” (Luxembourg Times) and for leaving audiences “breathless” (Entertainment News Northwest). He is in his eleventh season as Music Director of the North State Symphony in Northern California, where he is recognized for dynamic performances, inventive programming, and meaningful community and youth engagement. He is also in his fourth season as Artistic Director of the Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he has led record-breaking attendance and expanded the orchestra’s collaborations and regional impact. Previously, he served as Music Director of the Minot Symphony Orchestra (2012–2015).
Since his international debut in 2007 with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Seaton has conducted widely across North America, South America, and Europe. Guest appearances include the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Milwaukee Symphony among others.
Seaton won the 2011 INTERAKTION Competition, conducting an orchestra composed of members from Germany’s leading ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic. He was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt, a finalist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Solti Conducting Competition, and a quarter-finalist in the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition.
A committed advocate for contemporary music, he has led numerous premieres and championed composers including Libby Larsen, Mason Bates, and Adam Schoenberg. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Seaton holds degrees from the Université de Montréal, the New England Conservatory, and Vanderbilt University.
Yue Bao
Guest Conducting: October 16, 2026
Yue Bao is a highly regarded conductor recognized for her clarity, musical integrity, and communicative leadership. Bachtrack has praised her “graceful and elegant economy of movement,” noting the sense of lively cheerfulness she transmits to the ensemble.
Bao made her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut at the Ravinia Festival in 2021 and has since appeared with major orchestras across North America and Europe. In the current season, she returns to conduct the Munich Symphony Orchestra, leads the Calgary Philharmonic, and makes her debut with the Nuremberg Symfoniker. Additional engagements include the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Oviedo Filarmonía. Her recent and past collaborations include the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with distinguished soloists including Hélène Grimaud, Lang Lang, Jan Vogler, Vadim Gluzman, Bomsori Kim, Pablo Ferrández, Hera Hyesang Park, and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason.
Equally at home in symphonic and operatic repertoire, Bao has conducted works ranging from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Bizet’s Carmen to Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny: Ein Songspiel and Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium.
Bao served as the Ting Tsung and Wei Fung Chao Foundation Assistant Conductor at the Houston Symphony, where she made her subscription debut on the opening night of the 2020–21 season. She has worked extensively throughout the United States and internationally and is recognized for her ability to build strong artistic relationships with musicians and institutions alike.
A former Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Bao was also the Conducting Fellow at the Chautauqua Music Festival, where she returned as a guest conductor in 2022 and 2025. She earned her Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in orchestral conducting and opera accompanying from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, as well as a Master’s in orchestral conducting from the Mannes School of Music.
Joshua Gersen
Guest Conducting: November 20, 2026
An artist of impeccable musical credentials, Joshua Gersen is widely respected as an engaging and inspiring conductor, able to communicate effortlessly with both young and established orchestras internationally. A native of the New York area he made his debut as a conductor at the early age of 11 and has established himself as a dynamic presence on the podium.
Joshua recently concluded his tenure as the Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, where he most notably made his subscription debut at just a few hours’ notice. “Impassioned and incisive,” wrote The New York Times, “the performance earned a standing ovation and prolonged applause from his colleagues in the orchestra.”
Joshua works frequently at the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. During his time with the New York Philharmonic, he also conducted many of the orchestra’s celebrated Young People’s Concerts and worked extensively with programs which provide music education for students in underserved communities across New York City.
Joshua studied composition with Michael Gandolfi at the New England Conservatory of Music before studying conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music. He conducted several world premieres of new works with the New York Youth Symphony and has collaborated with many prominent contemporary composers including John Adams, Steve Reich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jennifer Higdon, and Mason Bates. He is particularly committed to featuring works by the newer generation of composers, such as Gabriella Smith, Valerie Coleman, Carlos Simon, and Chris Rogerson, among others.
He remains passionate about the core classical repertoire, in particular the German and Russian masters, as well as the classic American composers including Copland, Gershwin, Barber and Bernstein.
Joshua continues to enjoy successful relationships with orchestras including particularly the New World Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. Other recent guest conducting appearances include with the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Hannover Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival and debuts with the Louisiana Philharmonic and Ann Arbor Symphony.
He recently crossed the pond to Ireland to make his debut with the RTE Concert Orchestra and was a great hit so immediately re-invited. This season he returns to the San Francisco Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic and St Louis Symphony and makes his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra.
Joshua is the recipient of a 2015 and 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.
Shizuo Kuwahara
Guest Conducting: January 29, 2027
Shizuo Z Kuwahara is an internationally acclaimed conductor whose career rose rapidly after winning First Prize at the Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt and Third Prize at the Malko International Conducting Competition. These achievements led to invitations from orchestras including the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester.
In 2018, Kuwahara made a highly successful debut at the Mariinsky Theatre with Verdi’s La Traviata under the invitation of Valery Gergiev. The performance marked the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the company, where he has since conducted I Pagliacci, Eugene Onegin, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Macbeth, and Rigoletto, in addition to orchestral programs. In recognition of his work, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre the following year and debuted with the Mariinsky Ballet conducting Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé.
A Japanese-American conductor based in Amsterdam, Kuwahara has led performances across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. His engagements include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Symphony, and the Wrocław Philharmonic. He has also served as a cover conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris.
Earlier in his career, Kuwahara served as assistant conductor to Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival and to Valery Gergiev at the Pacific Music Festival. He was also staff conductor and League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow with the Philadelphia Orchestra, apprenticing under Christoph Eschenbach. From 2009 to 2016 he served as Music Director of the Augusta Symphony. Kuwahara spent part of his youth in Michigan and is a graduate of Novi High School. He holds degrees from Yale University and the Eastman School of Music.
James Blachly
Guest Conducting: March 20, 2027
James Blachly is a Grammy®-winning conductor dedicated to enriching the concert experience by connecting with audiences in memorable and meaningful ways. He serves as Music Director of the Experiential Orchestra and the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and is a versatile guest conductor in symphonic and operatic repertoire. Blachly’s performances have been praised by The Guardian for “catch[ing] the music’s sweeping, sonorous energy,” while Musical America applauds his “sense of finesse and reverence.”
Blachly’s recent and upcoming engagements include the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and WDR Funkhausorchester. He has also appeared with ensembles such as the Malaysian Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony, and Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, and has conducted at venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. In 2024, he made his German conducting debut with the WDR Funkhausorchester at the Rheingau Musik Festival alongside violinist Daniel Hope and was subsequently invited to conduct the Philharmonie Südwestfalen.
A strong advocate for contemporary music, Blachly has commissioned and premiered more than 40 works by composers including Jessie Montgomery, Courtney Bryan, and Viet Cuong. With the Experiential Orchestra, he has curated immersive performances that invite audiences to engage directly with the music—such as productions of The Rite of Spring with audience participation and site-specific works at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and other unconventional venues.
His Grammy-winning recording of Ethel Smyth’s The Prison and the Grammy-nominated American Counterpoints highlight his commitment to underrepresented composers and expanding the classical repertoire. With the Johnstown Symphony, Blachly has emphasized community outreach and educational initiatives, expanding youth programs and side-by-side performances that strengthen connections between the orchestra and its region.
Following each residency, feedback will be gathered from musicians, audiences, and community participants to help inform the final decision.
As the Lansing Symphony Orchestra looks ahead to its next chapter, audiences are also invited to experience a historic moment this season: Timothy Muffitt’s final concert as Music Director on May 15, 2026, featuring Pines of Rome. This culminating performance celebrates Maestro Muffitt’s remarkable tenure and enduring impact on the Lansing community.