Edwin Outwater

A truly visionary conductor, curator, and producer, Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras, institutions, and artists to reinvent the concert experience. His effortless ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with a wide range of artists, from Metallica to Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. He is, in the words of his mentor Michael Tilson Thomas, "one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today."

Outwater is music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, overseeing its ensembles and shaping the artistic initiatives of this dynamic institution. Since September 2024, he has held the position of principal guest conductor and curator of the BBC Concert Orchestra, working closely with the orchestra’s director to deliver an exciting range of concerts, and community and education work over the next three seasons. He is also music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, which he led from 2007 to 2017, bringing the orchestra to international acclaim with tours and collaborative projects, and a critically praised recording, "From Here On Out."

Recent appearances include performances with New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony as well as Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a multi-concert series opening the Steinmetz Hall in Florida. He has conducted a variety of shows featuring acclaimed performers such as Diana Ross, Beck, Trey Anastasio, Harry Connick Jr., Dispatch, and Leslie Odom Jr., as well as Lang Lang’s "The Disney Book." As a producer and musical advisor for the National Symphony Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary Concert at the Kennedy Center, he collaborated with a cast of artists including Audra MacDonald, Christian McBride, and Common.

Outwater has conducted three highly acclaimed concerts at the BBC Proms with the BBC Concert Orchestra, making his Proms debut in 2022 with Cynthia Erivo, followed by the Northern Soul Prom in 2023 and "Ultra Lounge: Henry Mancini and Beyond" in 2024. Other international appearances include Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, BBCNOW, Brussels Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. In Canada, he has led the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, and the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg.

Since the 2021 Season, Outwater has been the main conductor for Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra concerts conducting orchestras such as San Diego Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Utah Symphony Orchestra. He is also the primary conductor for Coltrane: Legacy for Orchestra, which premiered with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in May 2024 and has further been performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra at London Jazz Festival and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

Outwater frequently collaborates with drag queen Peaches Christ, co-hosting and conducting new productions that feature prominent guest stars from the world of drag, pop, and musical theatre. Their Halloween concert, Symphony of Terror, premiered with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2022, and their festive production Holiday Gaiety has featured annually in the San Francisco Symphony’s festive programming since 2018. Holiday Gaiety has since been premiered at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, as well as Glasshouse in Gateshead with the Royal Northern Symphonia. 

Edwin Outwater holds a long-standing association with San Francisco Symphony, with recent seasons including subscription appearances with the orchestra and performances with Sting, Seth McFarlane, and Ben Folds. Previously, Outwater was San Francisco Symphony resident conductor, director of summer concerts and music director of San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Outwater has recently featured in several successful recordings. February 2024 saw the release of Lara Downes’ "Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined" (Gershwin/Colón) with the SFCM Orchestra, as well as "The Residents’ Secret Show" recording live from San Francisco. He also features on "GRACE: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas," released on Pentatone in October 2024. Outwater also conducted and co-produced the recordings of Stewart Copeland’s "Police Deranged for Orchestra" and "Police Beyond Borders," both released in 2023. He conducted the Chicago Symphony in Grammy-winning Sony Classical release of Mason Bates’s Philharmonia Fantastique, and was also associate conductor for the Sony Classical release "A Gathering of Friends," with John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, and the New York Philharmonic. He features prominently in Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s solo debut EP "Portals" as co-songwriter, arranger, orchestrator, and keyboardist. 

A native of Santa Monica, California, Outwater graduated cum laude with a degree in English literature from Harvard University, where he was music director of the Bach Society Orchestra and the a cappella group Harvard Din and Tonics, and wrote the music for the 145th annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals production. He earned his degree in conducting from UC Santa Barbara, studying with Heiichiro Ohyama and Paul Polivnick, and pursuing music theory and composition with John Stewart, Joel Feigin, and Leonard Stein.