Our conductors 1991 - present
The history of our leadership
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Martha Stoddard
ARTISTIC director AND PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
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 26th season as Music Director in the Fall of 2023. Praised for her clarity, generosity and vision, she has guided the orchestra through a major transformation and continues to strive for artistic excellence and growth. Originally trained as a flutist, she is principal flute for the Handel Opera Project and Piedmont Chamber Players, and performs chamber music locally and regionally.
Ms. Stoddard also holds conducting positions with the Community Women’s Orchestra and the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra, and is a regular guest conductor of the Awesome Orchestra. Previous conducting posts include the Holy Names University Community Orchestra, San Francisco Composers’ Chamber Orchestra, and Resident Conductor for Enriching Lives Through Music. Stoddard also served as Program Director for the John Adams Young Composers Program at the Crowden Music Center and was the Director of Instrumental Music at Lick-Wilmerding High School for 30 years, serving as Performing Arts Department Chair and JV Tennis coach for several years. In 2023, Ms. Stoddard was selected as a conducting fellow in professional workshops in Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute. An award-winning composer and conductor, Ms. Stoddard is a strong advocate for living and women composers, having conducted many contemporary works, premieres and commissions. In 2019 she 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. Her popular orchestral work, A Little Trip to Outer Space, enjoyed its South Bay premiere by the San Jose Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra in June 2023. Other recent performances include premieres of Alexis Alrich, Jessica Krash, Monica Chew and Niko Umar Durr as well as works by Naomi Dodd, Germaine Tailleferre, Grace Williams, Florence Price and Louise Farrenc. |