Daniel Hege


Daniel Hege is an American orchestral conductor. He is currently the music director of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Binghamton Philharmonic, and is the principal guest conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Hege previously served as the music director of the former Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. He also makes numerous guest appearances with orchestras and music festivals across the country.

Biography

Hege was born in Colorado and raised in Idaho to parents Carl and Anne, who he names as his role models. He attended the First Mennonite Church in Aberdeen, Idaho. He began piano lessons at the age of nine and realized at that age that music would be his ruling passion.
He has majors in history and music at Bethel College, graduating in 1987. His senior seminar paper was about how the composer Dmitri Shostakovich worked under the repressive Stalin regime in Russia in the mid-20th century. He went on to obtain a master's degree from the University of Utah in orchestral conducting, where he founded the University Chamber Orchestra.
He studied at the University of Southern California with Daniel Lewis and at the Aspen Music Festival with Paul Vermel.
In 2004 Mr. Hege received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Le Moyne College.
He is active as a guest clinician and adjudicates various musical competitions nationally.
He has three daughters and lives in Jamesville, NY.

Positions held

Maestro Hege has performed or will perform as guest conductor for the following orchestras and festivals: