Israel Getzov
Professor of Music - Director of Orchestras
Windgate 150
(501) 450-5761
American conductor Israel Getzov begins his nineteenth season as Music Director of the Conway Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Music Director of the Little Rock Winds, and Artistic Advisor to the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He previously held the positions of Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Tianjin Philharmonic, the resident orchestra of the Tianjin Grand Theater.
Mr. Getzov has conducted orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, including Abilene Philharmonic, Asheville, Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Monroe Symphony, Skokie Valley Symphony, Mid-Texas Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic, Symphony of the Mountains, Tianjin Symphony, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, Bolivia Classica, University of Taipei Symphony, and the Encuentro Jovenes Musicos Festival in La Paz. As an opera conductor, he led the world premiere of The Scarlett Letter by American composer Lori Laitman, conducted works of Giancarlo Menotti at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and worked as Staff Conductor for Tianjin Grand Opera in productions of La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Oedipus Rex.
Mr. Getzov was selected by Leonard Slatkin to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and was chosen by David Zinman for the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival.
Mr. Getzov started the violin at age 3, and later studied viola, piano and percussion. He has performed as an orchestral violinist with many renowned conductors including Barenboim, Boulez, Solti, Mehta and Rostropovich. He was a founding member of the Rockefeller String Quartet, a professional quartet with whom he gave over 200 concerts. Mr. Getzov holds a tenured professorship at the University of Central Arkansas and has given clinics at many conservatories and music schools in the U.S., Asia, and South America. An experienced public speaker, he hosted his own weekly radio program on Arkansas KLRE 90.5FM called “Izzy Investigates” and has performed live as a chamber musician on WFMT and WBEZ in Chicago.