Our conductors 1991 - present
The history of our leadership

• • •

Martha Stoddard
​MUSIC director
Martha Stoddard enjoys a multi-faceted musical career as conductor, composer and flutist. She assumed the leadership of the Oakland Civic Orchestra in 1997 and began her 28th season as Music Director in August 2025.  Praised for her clarity, generosity and vision, she continues to guide the orchestra to new heights, and has earned accolades and multiple American Prizes in orchestral performance, programming and chamber music. Under her leadership the orchestra also provides conducting opportunities for emerging conductors, many of whom have gone on to enjoy careers on the podium. 
​
​Stoddard is also the Music Director of the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra and a popular guest conductor of the Awesome Orchestra.  During 2025-2026 she served as assistant conductor for the Berkeley Symphony, covering for Edwin Outwater and Carolyn Kuan.  Previous conducting positions include the Community Women’s Orchestra, Holy Names University Community Orchestra, San Francisco Composers’ Chamber Orchestra, and Enriching Lives Through Music.  She also held the position of Program Director for the John Adams Young Composers Program at the Crowden Music Center for three years and was Director of Instrumental Music at Lick-Wilmerding High School from 1991 - 2021, where she also served as Performing Arts Department Chair and Tennis Coach.  

In 2023 and 2024 she was selected as a Conducting Fellow for professional workshops in Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute.  In 2024 she also enjoyed her debut  with Verismo Opera in Vallejo, conducting Verdi’s La Traviata.

​A strong advocate for living and women composers, recent performances include premieres by Alexis Alrich, Jessica Krash, Monica Chew and Niko Umar Durr, as well as seldom heard works by Ruth Gipps, Naomi Dodd, Doreen Carwithen, Germaine Tailleferre, Grace Williams, Florence Price and Louise Farrenc.  In 2019  Stoddard brought the Oakland Civic Orchestra into the final round of the Ernst Bacon Prize for the Performance of American Music and in 2020 she was a finalist in the American Prize Competition for Conductors, Community Orchestra Division.  Originally trained as a flutist, she continues her perform as principal flute for the Handel Opera Project and the Piedmont Chamber Players.  Her flute music is published by Tetractys in the UK.  In her free time she enjoys composing, playing chamber music and tennis.  

ANDREW O'DONNELL
ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Andrew O’Donnell is a young conductor based in the East Bay. He previously served as Principal Clarinet of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and is currently Lecturer of Clarinet at the University of California, Berkeley. Andrew obtained degrees in Clarinet Performance from the Juilliard School and Rice University.  As a clarinetist, Andrew has performed under notable conductors including Alan Gilbert, Gianandrea Noseda, and Michael Tilson Thomas, and has collaborated with pianist Emanuel Ax.  Andrew serves as Assistant Conductor for the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra and the Oakland Civic Orchestra, and is Music Director of the Oakland Community Orchestra. His conducting studies have included workshops with Donald Schleicher and Kenneth Kiesler.
Assistant and Associate Conductor History