Scott Speck
“There’s a special combustion that happens when the Mobile Symphony begins to play. Our myriad individual voices become one, and the air itself begins to vibrate. In that moment, we’re no longer just listeners and music-makers—we’re fellow travelers, launched on a journey that only live music can offer.
This season, the Mobile Symphony takes us on an unforgettable flight. We begin with Metamorphosis, where the music of Weber is transformed by Hindemith, and Brahms builds a towering triumph from a whisper. We find rhythmic fire in Piazzolla’s tango-inspired concerto and Beethoven’s exuberant Second Symphony. We stroll through the bustling streets of Gershwin’s Paris, and scale the dramatic heights of Rachmaninoff’s thrilling Third Piano Concerto.
Along the way, we explore the elegance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, the sweeping lyricism of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and the rich American language of Florence Price. We find ourselves in the quiet wonder of Tchaikovsky’s wintry landscape, filled with longing and light. And we end the season gazing skyward, as Holst’s The Planets collides with the grandeur of modern film music in a cosmic finale.
Each concert is its own world, and it’s alive only in the moment we share it. No recording can capture the way the sound fills the room, or the way it resonates between us. You are part of that experience—essential to it. With you onboard, the music can fully take off.
This is your orchestra, and the Mobile Symphony is our shared musical vehicle. Thank you for joining us on this extraordinary ride.”
– Scott Speck, Music Director
Scott Speck joined the Mobile Symphony in 2000 as its first full-time Music Director. Under his leadership the orchestra has grown into one of the Gulf Coast’s premier performing arts organizations. Scott is a masterful conductor with a wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire, deep experience in programming, and a terrific sense of what will engage audiences – old and new. His performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie and Olga Kern have been highlights of his years as music director of the MSO.
Scott also holds positions as Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Philharmonic and West Michigan Symphony. He previously held positions as Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet; Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony; and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. During a tour of Asia he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing. He was also invited to the White House as Music Director of the Washington Ballet.
In past seasons Scott Speck has conducted at London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, New York’s Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Symphony Center, Washington’s Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, and the Los Angeles Music Center. He has led numerous performances with the orchestras of Chicago, Houston, Washington, Baltimore, Paris, London, Moscow and Beijing, among many others.
He is co-author of the world’s best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience: Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies and Ballet for Dummies. He has been a regular commentator on National Public Radio, the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, broadcast throughout the world.
Scott can be reached on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @scottspeckmusic