Bio David Wiey | Virginia's Blue Ridge Music Festival

Conductor of the Roanoke Symphony

Maestro David Stewart Wiley

Maestro David Stewart Wiley, pianist

The board of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra just extended David Stewart Wiley’s contract through 2027, which will make him the longest-tenured music director & conductor in its 72-year history. Our Maestro has conducted such distinguished symphonies as Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Saint Louis, Oregon, Hawaii, and Utah, as well as in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Wiley is in demand as a guest conductor, pianist, arranger, educator, and chamber music collaborator. He made his triple debut with the Boston Pops as conductor, composer, and piano soloist in Boston’s historic Symphony Hall, and returned to conduct in Boston again earlier this year.

Wiley continues to serve in New York with an additional post as music director and conductor of Orchestra Long Island (OLI) — continuing his commitment to education and outreach throughout Long Island since 2001. Wiley also enjoys a special relationship with Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival as artistic director, and previously served as assistant conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Wiley’s tenure with the RSO is a remarkable success story, with consistently stellar reviews, a diverse and impressive list of guest artists and composers, and innovative commissions of new music.

Wiley is an engaged and active community partner and recognized celebrity, having been named Roanoke’s “Citizen of the Year” for his outstanding service and outreach. Wiley actively partners with schools and numerous arts and civic organizations, and the RSO and Wiley received a prestigious Distinguished Music Educator Award from Yale University for its partnership with city schools. Wiley was honored by the NAACP as Citizen of the Year in the Arts for his service. He and his wife, Leah, were honored at the MS Society’s “Dinner of Champions” for their leadership, and Maestro Wiley was honored during his 25^th season by the governor and a joint bipartisan resolution in the Virginia house and senate.

David Stewart Wiley won the Aspen Conducting Prize, was assistant conductor for the Aspen Music Festival, and was awarded a Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood. Wiley holds both a Doctor and Master of Music in Conducting from Indiana University, as well as a degree in Piano Performance with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a degree in Religion, summa cum laude, from Tufts University. He is a recipient of the Perry F. Kendig Prize for service to the arts and is a Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary International. David and Leah have two sons, both currently in college here in the Commonwealth.