Conner Gray Covington recently completed a four-year tenure with the Utah Symphony as associate conductor and as principal conductor of the Deer Valley Music Festival. During his tenure in Utah, Covington conducted nearly 300 performances of classical subscription, educational, film, pops and family concerts, as well as tours throughout the state.
Last season, he returned to the Utah Symphony as a guest conductor on several occasions and also made debuts with the Amarillo Symphony, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Idaho State Civic Symphony and the North Carolina Symphony. Previously, he was a Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he worked closely with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his Carnegie Hall debut, and the Curtis Opera Theater, while also being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
He began his career as assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program. A four-time recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., Covington was a featured conductor in the 2016 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, presented by the League of American Orchestras.
During the 22/23 season, he conducted Britten’s Turn of the Screw for NEC in Boston, made return visits to the North Carolina Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony and made his debut with the Rochester Philharmonic. He was also guest conductor for the Chicago Piano Competition at the New School for the second year and was invited to return in 2024. During the summer of 2023, he returned to the Deer Park Valley Festival with the Utah Symphony and made his debut at the Grand Teton Music Festival and with the Bellingham Festival of Music.
Recent engagements include performances with the Utah Symphony as part of its Masterworks Series, Portland Symphony of Maine, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Sarasota Orchestra, along with his debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and his debut with Utah Opera conducting Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Upcoming engagements include performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Boston Pops, Sarasota Orchestra, Las Vegas Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.
Born in Louisiana, Covington grew up in east Tennessee and began playing the violin at age 11. He completed high school at the renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and went on to study violin with Dr. Martha Walvoord and conducting with Dr. Clifton Evans at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in violin performance.
He continued his studies with Neil Varon at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a master’s degree in orchestral conducting and was awarded the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize. In the summers of 2011 and 2012, Covington attended the Aspen Music Festival as a fellowship student in the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. There he worked closely with Robert Spano, Larry Rachleff and Hugh Wolff, as well as other guest conductors throughout the summer.
He has also conducted the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in a masterclass with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and for two summers studied at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors.
April 2025
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
