American conductor Stephen Mulligan works across symphonic, operatic, and contemporary music, and is known for his collaborative approach with musicians and audiences. He maintains a full guest conducting schedule across the US and Europe; highlights of the 2025–26 season include debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Syracuse Orchestra, and Cincinnati Opera, and return engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Junges-Sinfonie Orchester Wetzlar, and Ensemble MusikFabrik.  Following productions of Puccini’s La Rondine and Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, he also continues his collaboration with the University of North Texas Opera in a new staging of Handel’s Alcina.

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As a guest conductor, he has also recently appeared with the Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Filarmonica Transilvania, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Danish Opera Academy, and Athelas Ensemble, among others.

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Stephen’s career launched at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied with Robert Spano and received the Aspen Conducting Prize. Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra subsequently appointed him Assistant and then Associate Conductor, where he led hundreds of concerts, including three classical subscription jump-ins over six weeks, all to critical acclaim. As a Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Stephen also jumped in for Gustavo Dudamel to lead an all-Beethoven program and conducted other performances including Stravinsky’s complete L’Histoire du Soldat. He served as Resident Conductor of the Cincinnati Opera for two seasons and is a three-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen found the time to pursue his childhood dream of composing in earnest, studying with Jörg Widmann at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin and Miroslav Srnka at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. Since then, composing has become central to his artistic life. His Haiku for contrabassist and vocalist Begüm Aslan inspired the creation of the Begüm Aslan Composition Competition, and in the 2025–26 season, percussionist David Moliner will premiere the sequel, Haiku II, at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. He will also be an Artist in Residence at the Willapa Bay Artist Residency in Washington State.

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A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Stephen began his music studies with his father Gregory, former violinist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He studied conducting at Yale University with Toshiyuki Shimada and at the Peabody Institute with Gustav Meier, Markand Thakar, and Marin Alsop.