Byron Stripling

Conductor, trumpet virtuoso, singer, and actor Byron Stripling has captivated audiences across the globe. In 2020, Stripling was named principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and he currently serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra. He has led orchestras throughout the United States and Canada. He has performed as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra under Keith Lockhart many times and has been featured soloist with the orchestra on the PBS program Evening at Pops with both John Williams and Mr. Lockhart. Stripling has led countless orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 2021, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony to name a few. Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Byron Stripling has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country and has soloed with over a hundred orchestras around the world. An accomplished actor and singer, Byron Stripling was chosen to star in the lead role of the Broadway-bound musical Satchmo. He made a memorable cameo performance in the television movie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and won critical acclaim for his virtuoso trumpet playing and riotous comedic performance in the 42nd Street production of From Second Avenue to Broadway. His prolific recording career has yielded multiple albums with his quintet, records with artists from Tony Bennett to Whitney Houston, and hundreds of albums with the greatest pop, Broadway, soul, and jazz artists of all time. Mr. Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, and other jazz luminaries, as well as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and GRP All-Star Big Band. Mr. Stripling is devoted to giving back and supports several philanthropic organizations, including the United Way and the Community Shelter Board. He also enjoys sharing the power of music through seminars and masterclasses; he was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, MI, and periodically returns to both as a special guest lecturer. A resident of Ohio, Stripling lives in the country with his wife Alexis, a former dancer, writer, and poet, and their beautiful daughters.