Conductors

Robert Moody

Music Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra

Maestro Robert Moody is thrilled to be in his eleventh season as Music Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.  Expanded and adventurous programming, expanded collaboration with multiple arts organizations in the Mid-South, commission of several new works for the orchestra, the MSO’s first commercial recording in over three decades, and a new $25-million-dollar endowment are but some of the many achievements made under his direction.  

Moody is also Music Director of the lauded Arizona Musicfest, boasting one of the finest festival orchestras in North America.  Players hail from the top orchestras in the world, including the Vienna and New York Philharmonics, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Seattle, and San Francisco Symphonies, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras.


  • the Lakeland (Florida) Symphony and Opera Association. From that experience, Lakeland has named him as their new Principal Opera Conductor.

    In 2018 Moody completed eleven-years as Music Director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine), and thirteen-years as Music Director of the Winston-Salem Symphony (NC). Prior to that he served as Resident Conductor for the Phoenix Symphony, Chorus Master for Santa Fe Opera, and Associate Conductor for the Evansville (IN) Philharmonic Orchestra.

    This past summer, Moody was invited to return to South Africa for a tour of concerts with the three major orchestras of that country – in Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. Other recent and upcoming guest conducting includes the orchestras of Bogota, Colombia; Aachen and Baden-Baden, Germany; The Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans, The Sacramento Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony in California, Sewanee Music Festival in Tennessee, and his first return to the Winston-Salem Symphony in North Carolina.

    Prior Guest Conducting has included Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestras of Toronto, Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit, Seattle, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Buffalo, Columbus, Louisville, Minnesota, and Slovenian Philharmonic. Festival conducting includes Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Brevard Music Center, Sewanee Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Skaneateles Festival, Bowdoin International Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival.

    Equally at home in the opera pit, Moody began his career as apprentice conductor for the Landestheater Opera in Linz, Austria. He conducted for the opera companies of Santa Fe, Brevard Music Center, and Hilton Head Opera. He also assisted on a production of Verdi Otello at the Metropolitan Opera (NY), conducted by Valery Gergiev, and at The English National Opera, where he was Assistant Conductor for Kurt Weill Street Scene. He made his Washington National Opera and North Carolina Opera debuts in 2014, and conducted Bartok Bluebeard’s Castle, Leoncavallo I Pagliacci, and Poulenc Dialogues of the Carmelites in the seasons following. Debuts to rave reviews with Brevard Music Center for Weill Street Scene, Opera Carolina for Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro, and Des Moines Metro Opera for Strauss Die Fledermaus came in 2017 and 2018. He made his debut with Opera Memphis in Mozart Cosi fan tutte in 2022.

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Nathan Dumser

Chorus Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Chorus

With more than a decade of experience in choral music education, Nathan currently serves as Director of Choirs at St. George's Independent School. His work includes international performance tours, collaborative performances with instrumentalists, and thoughtfully programmed concerts that invite performers and audiences to engage with music in new and meaningful ways.

Nathan holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Kentucky (2018) and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education from the University of Memphis (2015). In recognition of his impact in music education, he was recently named a 2026 Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation Teacher Hero. His approach combines high musical expectations with a supportive, engaging rehearsal environment that welcomes singers of all experience levels.

Having studied with Dr. Lawrence Edwards, Conductor Emeritus of the Memphis Symphony Chorus, Nathan is thrilled to continue the ensemble's tradition of artistic excellence alongside Maestro Robert Moody.