David Itkin

The 2025-2026 season marks David Itkin’s 21^st season as Music Director and conductor of the Abilene Philharmonic and his 18th year serving as Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Studies at the College of Music, where his recent performances have included “Mahler Symphony No. 6,” the Verdi “Requiem,” Bruckner “Symphony No. 7,” Beethoven “Symphony No. 9,” Puccini’s “Turandot,” Verdi’s “Otello,” Puccini’s “Tosca,” and Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen.”

Following a distinguished 17-year tenure, Itkin was named Conductor Laureate of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in July 2010. Previously, Mr. Itkin served as Music Director & Conductor of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Artistic Director and Conductor of the McCall Summerfest in McCall, Idaho, and as Music Director of the Lake Forest Symphony (Chicago), the Kingsport Symphony, the Birmingham Opera Theatre and the Lucius Woods Music Festival (Wisconsin).

During past seasons his career has taken him to 45 U.S. states and 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, including concerts and recordings with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Transylvania State Philharmonic, the Slovenska Filhamonija, the San Diego Symphony and the Seoul Philharmonic. Other guest conducting appearances include concerts with the Colorado Philharmonic, the Annapolis Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Fort Worth, Illinois, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Cheyenne Symphonies, and the Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Reno Chamber Orchestras. During the Summer of 2006 Itkin appeared once again with the Slovenska Filharmonija in Ljubljana, Slovenia, conducting the opening concert of the 14th World Saxophone Congress.

His books, “The Conductor’s Craft” [2021] and “Conducting Concerti” [2014], have received wide acclaim. Leonard Slatkin “highly recommended” “Conducting Concerti” as “a valuable textbook for the aspiring Maestro,” and Samuel Adler wrote of “The Conductor’s Craft,” “a real breakthrough aid for anyone studying or teaching conducting at any level.” Mr. Itkin’s memoir, “Right Back Where I Started” was published in July 2025 by the University of North Texas Press and is now available on Amazon. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is available at audible.com.