Bio

Rei Hotoda

About
Rei Hotoda is rapidly becoming one of America’s most sought after and dynamic artists. She has appeared as a guest conductor with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Utah, Toronto, and Winnipeg, as well as the Colorado and St. Louis Symphonies, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among others. Her repertoire spans the masterful staples of the classical canon to works by the leading composers of today. She is equally at home leading the orchestra from the piano as well as from the podium.

In the 2015-16 season Ms. Hotoda assumed the titled position of Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra—the first female to hold this position in the Orchestra’s 75-year history. In this new role, she will lead the orchestra in various programs for community as well as chamber concerts, regional tours, and at the Deer Valley Music Festival concerts in Park City. She will play an active role in the orchestra’s education department, conducting family, education, and outreach concerts. She will also be a spokesperson for the Utah Symphony in pre-concert lectures and community events and will act as a mentor for several youth orchestras in a variety of regional guest clinics and performances. Additional highlights of Ms. Hotoda’s 2015-16 season include guest conducting debuts with the North Carolina Symphony and Atlantic Classical Orchestra as well as a return engagement with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony.

Ms. Hotoda is also an accomplished pianist, appearing both as a featured soloist and conductor from the piano. She has appeared as soloist conducting from the piano with the Dallas, Edmonton, Utah, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. As a soloist, she has presented works by Beethoven, Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff with the Clinton and Muscatine Symphony Orchestras. She has also given solo piano recitals at the Chicago Cultural Center, Ravinia Music Festival, and the University of Illinois.

Ms. Hotoda is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, created by Marin Alsop to mentor women conductors. Additionally, she has received a Peabody Career Development Grant, the Women’s Philharmonic Scholarship, and an Illinois Arts Council International Arts Exchange Grant.

Ms. Hotoda studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music.

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