Gary D. White
Music Director and Conductor
Philadelphia Sinfonia

Gary D. White, appointed Music Director and Conductor of Philadelphia Sinfonia in 1999, educated, nurtured, inspired, and shaped a troupe of unseasoned but ambitious young musicians into one of the Delaware Valley's finest youth orchestras.

Since he took the podium, Sinfonia has grown to more than 90 members, competitively selected each year from an ever-more gifted pool of musicians attracted by White's conducting skills, and expanded into a full symphonic orchestra and a string chamber orchestra.

Under Mr. White's baton, both orchestras perform a full season of concerts at venues in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that have included the Kimmel Center, the Republican National Convention, the Liberty Medal ceremony for then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the Lewis & Clark 200th Anniversary Conference.  He has conducted Sinfonia in collaborations with famed soprano Julianne Baird, jazz violin virtuoso Christian Howes, renowned jazz composer and pianist Stanley Cowell, and the celebrated Philadelphia Boys Choir, and led the orchestra on critically acclaimed tours of Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Russia, and Finland.

An experienced educator, musician, administrator, and conductor, White trained at the prestigious Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians in Hancock, ME.  Monteux alumni include legendary conductors Lorin Maazel, André Previn, and Sir Neville Marriner.  On the podium Maestro White strives to capture the spirit of the school's founder, French-born conductor Pierre Monteux (1875-1964), who once said, “Conducting is not enough.  I must create something.  I am not a composer, so I will create fine young musicians.”

With a conducting philosophy that focuses on the process as much as the final product of the concert, White cultivates a creative partnership with young musicians that empowers them to make passionate music, a hallmark of Sinfonia performances.

Mr. White has a Bachelor of Music degree from The New School of Music and a Master of Music degree from Temple University's Esther Boyer College of Music, both in Philadelphia.  He studied conducting under Maestro Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School; Arthur Chodoroff, Professor of Music at Temple University; and Luis Biava, retired Conductor-in-Residence of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

White has also been cover conductor for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and is in demand throughout the tri-state area as a conductor of professional and youth orchestras, including the Delaware Youth Orchestra, Delaware Youth Symphony, Delaware All-State Orchestra, All-Catholic Orchestra Festival, PMEA District 12 Intermediate Band Festival, Montgomery County Honors String Orchestra Festival, and the Rose Tree Pops.  He was music director and conductor of the Temple University Community Youth Orchestra, and assistant conductor in Temple Music Prep's “Center for Gifted Young Musicians.”

A professional French horn player, Mr. White has performed with the Fairmount Brass Quartet; Concerto Soloists; Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra; Pennsylvania Sinfonia; the Harrisburg, Reading and Pottstown symphonies; as a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and is heard on numerous orchestra and chamber recordings.

White is also chair of the Music Department at Germantown Friends School.