meet victoria gau

Victoria Gau is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Capital City Symphony (DC) and Cantate Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and the former Associate Conductor of National Philharmonic. Orchestral guest conducting includes the Open Page Ensemble, Alexandria (VA) and Akron (OH) Symphonies, the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center Messiah Sing-Along. She has been active as Artistic Director of the Takoma Ensemble and is the former Conductor and Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra in Richmond, VA. Opera music directing includes the Other Opera Company, Washington Savoyards, Victorian Lyric Opera Company, Annapolis Opera Musicales, the Eldbrook Opera Ensemble, and the IN-Series, as well as serving on the opera faculty at George Mason University.

Gau is in demand as a leader of concerts for young audiences as well as a conductor and string educator at youth orchestra festivals and workshops. She conducts National Philharmonic’s annual concerts for Montgomery County 2^nd graders and the Philharmonic’s Junior String Institute Orchestra. She is the former conductor of the Young Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra (DC Youth Orchestra Program) as well as the Akron Youth Symphony and has conducted youth orchestra festivals in Virginia, Ohio, and New York. Gau has conducted Side-by Side events with DC-area youth orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the SOGO Conservatory Orchestra (Olympia, WA), the Vermont All-State Orchestra Festival, and the Maryland Senior All-State Orchestra. She is a sought-after clinician for orchestral programs.

Gau has guest conducted such choruses as The Metropolitan Chorus, Capitol Hill Chorale, and the Congressional Chorus. She has assisted in preparation of the 150-voice National Philharmonic Chorale for approximately six concerts per season, and served as Co-Director of the National Philharmonic Singers, and Director and Co-Conductor of the National Philharmonic Summer Choral Institutes.

Ms. Gau holds degrees in Viola Performance and Conducting from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she won the Phi Kappa Lambda Prize for Musicianship.