
Aaron Cassidy’s work as a conductor is stylistically diverse, encompassing both contemporary and historical repertoire across chamber, orchestral, operatic, and choral settings, including leading many dozens of world premieres.
Notable recent performances include an Ann Cleare portrait concert with Musikfabrik in the Großer Saal of the Berlin Philharmonie for Musikfest Berlin of the Berliner Festspiele, recording three works by Turgut Erçetin at the WDR Funkhaus in Cologne for the Musikfabrik im WDR series, a Swiss tour with Ensemble Proton Bern for their Pro Helvetia-sponsored Protonwerk No.11 project, and a monthlong engagement as conductor and Musical Director for the premiere of Ann Cleare’s opera The Little Lives at the Munich Biennale.Â
Current season highlights include the premiere of a new work by Richard Barrett with ELISION, a return visit for Musikfabrik’s ‘Adventure’ series (his sixth appearance with the ensemble since 2020), a performance with ensemble mosaik of works by Laura Bowler, Sara Glojnarić, and Sergej Newski at MaerzMusik, and conducting the premiere of his own Siemens Foundation-commissioned Piano Concerto with ELISION, alongside the Australian premiere of Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus by Liza Lim, for the New Music Days festival of the Melbourne Recital Centre.
He has appeared as a conductor with Ensemble Musikfabrik, ELISION, ensemble mosaik, Schola Heidelberg, Ensemble Proton Bern, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Interface (for the IEMA Edenkoben International Conducting Mastercourse), the Monochrome Project, and the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble. From 2008–13 he served as conductor of the Symphony Orchestra and New Music Ensemble at the University of Huddersfield, where he also taught advanced undergraduate and postgraduate orchestral conducting students. He has recorded as a conductor for the Kairos and HCR labels, with a further release forthcoming on Wergo.
While much of his work as a conductor over the last 20 years has revolved around new and experimental music, his earliest training was in choral conducting. He was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Texas Boys Choir while still an undergraduate, and later held positions as Organist & Choir Director while completing undergraduate and PhD degrees in composition in Chicago and Buffalo, also serving as the Assistant Conductor of the University Choir at SUNY Buffalo from 1998–99.
His conducting teachers have included Stephen Alltop, Erik Oña, Ilan Volkov, Zsolt Nagy, and Peter Eötvös.
Audio and video samples are available here.
A repertoire list is available here.
Recent Events—Conducting
ELISION Ensemble
with Alex Waite, piano, and Harry Ward, violin
New Music Days Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
April 20, 2023 / Radio broadcast by ABC Classic FM
works by Liza Lim and Aaron Cassidy
ensemble mosaik
MaerzMusik
Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Große BühneÂ
March 23, 2023 / Radio broadcast by Deutschlandfunk Kultur, April 6, 2023
works by Laura Bowler, Sara Glojnarić, Sergej NewskiÂ
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Adventure #9, in cooperation with the Institut für Neue Musik, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln, GermanyÂ
December 16, 2022
works by Simone Cardini, Lucia Kilger, Adrian Laugsch, Carlos Lopes, and Mats Thiersch
ELISION Ensemble
David Li Sound Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
August 26, 2022
recording my ‘Self-Portrait, Three Times, Standing’ for Kairos Records
ELISION Ensemble
Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia
August 25, 2022
work by Richard Barrett
Munich Biennale
Musical Director and Conductor
Ensemble Musikfabrik, Christopher Robson, Annette Schönmüller, Peter Brathwaite, Peyee Chen, & John Pumphrey
Utopia, Munich, Germany
May 8–11, 2022
The Little Lives, an opera by Ann Cleare
Ensemble Proton Bern
Protonwerk No.11
Gare du Nord, Basel
Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich
March 30–31, 2022
works by Zeno Baldi, Samuel HvozdÃk, Sachie Kobayashi, Seong-Hwan Lee, and Ben Lunn
Ensemble Proton Bern
Protonwerk No.11
Dampfzentrale Bern, Switzerland
March 15, 2022
works by Zeno Baldi, Samuel HvozdÃk, Sachie Kobayashi, Seong-Hwan Lee, and Ben Lunn










The Monochrome Project
Folkwang Universität der Künste, Essen, Germany
November 29 – December 1, 2021
Creative development sessions, work by Guillaume Dufay (Missa se le face ay pale, transcription/arrangement/reimagining for trumpet octet), La Monte Young, Rolf Wallin, Julius Eastman, and Riccardo Nova.
Ensemble Proton Bern
Protonwerk No.11
Liestal, Switzerland
November 13, 2021
Development sessions and workshops with Zeno Baldi, Samuel HvozdÃk, Sachie Kobayashi, Seong-Hwan Lee, and Ben Lunn, leading towards performances in Bern, Basel, and Zürich, March 2022.
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Musikfest Berlin (Berliner Festspiele) – Ann Cleare Portrait Concert
Großer Saal, Berlin Philharmonie
September 5, 2021
works by Ann Cleare
& rehearsal conductor for Enno Poppe Prozession
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Musikfabrik im WDR 78, WDR Funkhaus am Wallrafplatz, Köln, Germany
July 10, 2021
works by Turgut Erçetin
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Mediapark, Cologne, Germany
July 9, 2021
recording work by Turgut Erçetin for Wergo
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Adventure #5, in cooperation with the Institut für Neue Musik, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln, Germany
July 2, 2021
works by Pablo Garretón, Federico Perotti, Patrick Schäfer, Dariya Maminova, Marc Vogler, and Mazyar Kashian
Schola Heidelberg (KlangForum Heidelberg)
Biennale für Neue Musik der Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, Betriebswerk, Heidelberg, GermanyFebruary 11–22, 2021 [postponed due to Covid-19]July 4, 2021 [rescheduled concert cancelled due to Covid-19]
18 June – 27 June 2021, video recordings for online broadcast
work by Erik Oña, & rehearsal assistant for work by Márton Illés
Ensemble Musikfabrik, with Ryoko Aoki
Digital streaming concert, from Mediapark, Cologne, Germany & Kanagawa, JapanFebruary 19, 2021 [Covid-19 cancellation due to travel restrictions]
work by Peter Eötvös
ELISION Ensemble
Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne, AustraliaMay 2, 2020 [postponed due to Covid-19]
works by Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh and John Aulich
ELISION Ensemble
ISCM World Music Days, Christchurch, New ZealandApril 29, 2020 [postponed due to Covid-19]
works by Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh, Shuhan Hu, Miyuki Ito
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Mediapark, Cologne, Germany
Montagskonzert: “Extended Bodies, Uncanny Beings”
March 9, 2020
works by Mary Bellamy and Aaron Cassidy
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Mediapark, Cologne, Germany
March 8, 2020
recording works by Mary Bellamy and Aaron Cassidy for releases on the HCR and Kairos labels
ELISION Ensemble
University at Buffalo, New York, USA
April 24, 2019
student composer workshop & concert
ELISION Ensemble
Lippes Concert Hall, University at Buffalo, New York, USA
April 23, 2019
work by Liam Flenady