Allan R. Scott

Conductor Allan R. Scott hosts Morning Classics (and an occasional Free Forms show) several times every month.

Currently entering his twentieth season as Music Director of the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, Maestro Allan R. Scott is “one of the most dynamic figures in symphonic music and opera.” He is widely recognized for his outstanding musicianship, versatility, and ability to elicit top-notch performances from musicians. SYMPHONY Magazine praised Maestro Scott for his “large orchestra view,” noting that “under Scott’s leadership the quality of the orchestra’s playing has skyrocketed.”  Maestro Scott is praised as one of the most active arts leaders in a community. Through his community involvement, he raises over $450k personally in the Helena community and has helped raised the budget to a thriving $1.48 million with a significant surplus. Additionally, he helped bring the average concertgoer age from 64 to 48-52 years old and has been noted by the press for his programming to attract younger audiences.

Maestro Scott has also become closely associated with the works of Gustav Mahler. He has conducted all of Mahler’s symphonies nationally and internationally with companies such as The National Orchestra of Romania and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra of New Zealand. New Zealand National Radio noted “A concert with Maestro Scott is as intoxicating as you could wish..., and has an all-too-rare feeling of risk-taking spontaneity.”

Recently Maestro Scott made his debut with Marble City Opera conducting Puccini’s Suor Angelica “with marvelous attention to Puccini romanticism and dramatic balance” (Arts Knoxville). He Scott has appeared with such companies as The Tanglewood Music Center, Royal Opera of Netherlands, Portland Opera, Fairfax Opera Company, Kent Opera, The Bucharest National Opera, The National Radio Orchestra of Romania in Bucharest, New Zealand’s Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Firelands Symphony in Cleveland, Pottstown Symphony (PA), Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, New Artists Philharmonic (CO), and Fairfax Symphony.

Dividing his time between residences in Helena and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia native also begins his twenty-first season as Music Director of Pennsylvania’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony in addition to serving as the Principal Conductor of the Wilmington Ballet Company in Delaware for the past decade. He is a regular host on NPR affiliate Montana Public Radio hosting specials on Mahler, Bernstein, jazz, and Morning Classics.

Having studying piano since the age of five and his conducting studies at the age of fifteen, Maestro Scott developed his artistry under the guidance of some of the most prolific conductors of our time including Seiji Ozawa, and Charles Dutoit. He further refined his craft with Luis Biava, Zdenék Macal, Sir David Willcocks, and Jorge Mester at renowned institutions, among them the Tanglewood Music Center, California Conducting Institute, The Keene Music Festival, Ogontz Music Festival, and the Conducting Institute of South Carolina.