Artistic Director & Conductor

Jason Weinberger is an orchestra conductor who works with diverse organizations across the globe to create meaningful connections and vibrant experiences around music.

“Jason Weinberger has built a reputation for raising the excitement level with live performances that are always outside the box … innovative programming, inventive collaborations, and interesting, sometimes surprising twists make each concert a musical adventure.” (WCF Courier)

Jason’s primary musical focus is wcfsymphony in Iowa. Under his leadership as artistic director the orchestra is consistently noted for its impressive programmatic range and artistic quality. Jason and wcfsymphony commission and perform a wide variety of new and recent American music by composers including Chris Thile, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Timo Andres, Adam Schoenberg, Daniel Roumain, Philip Glass, and Gabriel Kahane and collaborate with leading musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, David Krakauer, Brandi Carlile, Matt Haimovitz, Simone Dinnerstein, and Edgar Meyer. Jason’s singular history with wcfsymphony includes a term as CEO of the organization, extensive community project leadership, and a generation-spanning commitment to youth musicians and listeners.

“When Jason comes out into the audience and mingles with the kids, it speaks volumes to them about how he values them. He is so relaxed, confident, and enthusiastic … they are drawn to him like a magnet. He is truly an ambassador for promoting the love of music!” (Music educator)

Both in his work with wcfsymphony and beyond Jason is known for collaboration with contemporary artists and mediums. He is the conductor for Grammy-winning singer songwriter Brandi Carlile and they appear together regularly at orchestras including Oregon Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Jason leads collaborations with a host of other artists and bands including Gary Kelley, Orquesta Alto Maiz, Mochilla, PROJECT Trio and Calexico. He is also a Disney-approved live film conductor and has performed screen-coordinated full scores of movies including Empire Strikes Back, Black Panther, Fantasia, Jane, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, The Snowman, and numerous Harry Potter films.

“Jason is very much about helping audiences to see connections between different types of music, connections they may not have considered or noticed.” (Timo Andres)

Jason began his professional career as a cover conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra and subsequently performed with the NSO numerous times at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He also led the Kennedy Center/National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. While in the mid-Atlantic Jason directed the orchestra program at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he founded an adventurous chamber orchestra. Other notable ensemble affiliations include the Louisville Orchestra, where he received a national Bruno Walter Career Grant for his four-year tenure as resident conductor. Jason has conducted at historic concert venues around the world as well as at several universities and All-State orchestra festivals in the United States.

“The concerts were led masterfully by Artistic Director Jason Weinberger at the harpsichord. The orchestra, all facing inward, sat circled around the soloists, which provided a sense of precision to audience and ensemble alike.” (WCF Courier)

Jason is a native of Los Angeles and began his musical training there on both piano and clarinet, pursuing studies on the latter instrument with Yehuda Gilad at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts. Jason’s early summer music experiences included Apple Hill (NH) and Eastern Music Festival (NC). He attended Yale University, first receiving a bachelor’s with academic distinction in intellectual history and then completing a master’s degree in clarinet performance under the guidance of David Shifrin while simultaneously studying harpsichord. Jason also received support from Yale College and Yale School of Music to pursue summer study at The Conductor’s Institute (CT), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (CT), and in Vienna on a three-month research fellowship. Jason attended the Peabody Conservatory as a master’s student of Gustav Meier and was a recipient of the Peabody Graduate Conducting Fellowship and a Peabody Career Grant. Other mentors included Leonard Slatkin at National Conducting Institute at National Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman at Aspen Music Festival, and Donald Thulean through the League of American Orchestras.

“One hundred percent the most meaningful and beautiful symphony concert I have ever been to.” (Audience member)

Jason spends much of his life outside of music and finds that this balance informs and deepens his artistic work. Jason’s offstage is Stratton, Vermont with his wife Jenette and their three boys: Benjamin [15], Levi [13], and Miles [8]. Jason is a US Ski and Snowboard Level 200 Alpine coach and leads Alpine race programming at Stratton Mountain throughout the winter. He teaches Hebrew school weekly during the academic year at Israel Congregation in Manchester, Vermont, and also serves on the organization’s board. Jason’s other passions include cycling, fly fishing, art, the outdoors, and curiosity.

“I enjoy the way Jason presents himself and the symphony to the community. He’s a regular guy, and that endears him to everybody.” (Community partner)