Steven Osgood is a conductor who brings a distinct musical incisiveness and dramatic insight to his work as a result of a unique combination of his experience in the world of theater as well as opera.  He has proven his expertise in repertoire ranging from the baroque through the contemporary era’s most challenging works.

Notable conducting engagements include the world premiere of Xenakis's Oresteia at the Miller Theater; a new production of Tan Dun's Marco Polo with De Nederlands Opera directed by Pierre Audi; Edmonton Opera’s La Traviata; Chautauqua Opera’s Tosca; Conrad Susa’s Transformations with Juilliard Opera; concerts with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Wintergreen Festival Orchestra; the world premiere production and tour of Tan Dun’s Peony Pavilion, with director Peter Sellars, the world premiere of Jonathan Sheffer’s Blood on the Dining Room Floor in its critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run, workshops of Herschel Garfein’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, directed by Mark Morris, Conrad Cummings‘ The Golden Gate, The Ghosts of Versailles with Northwestern University; Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, Hoiby’s A Month in the Country, and the American premiere of the chamber version of Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin for DiCapo Opera., Lucas Foss’ Griffelkin and Hoiby’s Summer and Smoke for the Manhattan School of Music, La bohème, and a double bill of Schoenberg’s Ewartung and Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Edmonton Opera; Wolf Trap Opera conducting A Midsummer Night‘s Dream, Fort Worth Opera conducting Philip Glass’s The Hydrogen Jukebox, and La Boheme and Seance on a Wet Afternoon for New York City Opera.

The past season included conducting appearances with Beth Morrison Projects for Songs from the Uproar, Long Beach Opera for Glass’ Aidanamar, the Manhattan School of Music for The Ghosts of Versailles, and Opera Memphis for Die Fledermaus and the Chautauqua Festival for concerts.  This season includes debuts with Hawaii Opera conducting Tosca, Sarasota Opera conducting Little Nemo, and returns to Opera Memphis to conduct The Rape of Lucretia, This Is the Rill Speaking & Bon Appetite., Chautauqua Festival to conduct Peter Grimes, an orchestra concert featuring works by Verdi and Wagner, and their young artists’ concert.  He will also conduct Sumeida’ Song for Here, a festival of new music theater in New York.

As Artistic Director of American Opera Projects from 2001 to 2008,  he conducted the world premieres of Paula Kimper’s Patience and Sarah at the 1998 Lincoln Center Festival, and Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv in 2007. He also created the company’s nationally recognized Composers and the Voice Workshop Series, which enjoyed 5 successful seasons and fostered great vocal writing from 30 emerging composers from the United States and Canada.  In recent seasons he has continued collaborating with AOP, conducting workshops of Tarik O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness, Conrad Cummings’ The Golden Gate, and Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Stephen Schwartz.

At the beginning of his career, he prepared the world premiere production of Tan Dun’s  Marco Polo for the Munich Bienalle in 1996.With the Santa Fe Opera he was Assistant Conductor for the world premieres of Peter Lieberson’s Ashoka’s Dream, and Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao, as well as the American premieres of Hans Werner Henze’s Venus und Adonis, and Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin.

Mr. Osgood has worked with many of North America’s premiere opera companies, including Canadian Opera Company, the Lake George Opera Festival, the San Francisco Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera, where he has served as Assistant Conductor for the world premiere of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor, and subsequent productions of La Traviata, and Phillip Glass’ Satyagraha., and Nixon in China.