Faculty & Staff

Conductor Jonathan Girard always knew he’d become a musician.
He grew up just outside Boston. Both Mom and Dad were accomplished amateur musicians. He vividly remembers his first trip to hear the Boston Symphony and hearing a performance of Debussy’s L’après-midi d’un faune. He knew at that moment that he wanted to spend his life immersed in the orchestral world.He began his musical journey on the piano, was conducting by 6th grade, played saxophone and clarinet in his middle school band and viola in the orchestra. He received a Masters from Boston University and his Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music.
Today he works around the world. Whether he’s leading a symphony in Brazil, an opera in the Czech Republic or working with students as Director of Orchestras at the University of British Columbia School of Music, he sees the orchestra as a place where each musician can contribute their individual artistry to a unified whole. He’s also an enthusiastic promoter of new and little-known music, works on interdisciplinary projects involving media labs and the visual arts and collaborates with scholars exploring astronomy and earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences.
When he’s off the podium, he’s often up in the air flying airplanes.
“I love the freedom of being in the skies and seeing the world from a unique perspective,” he says. “Flying combines both science and art. In everything I do, I relish an opportunity to seek out new realms.”