BIOGRAPHY
Martin Majkut is an internationally recognized conductor known for his bold programming, immersive musicianship and easy rapport with audiences. He currently serves as Music Director of the Rogue Valley Symphony and the Oregon Coast Music Festival.
Since 2010, Majkut has led the Rogue Valley Symphony in Ashland, Oregon, through a period of extraordinary growth. The RVS has quadrupled its budget under his direction and gained national attention for its vivid and adventurous programming, enriched by many meaningful commissioning projects. Its educational programs have grown concurrently, serving record-breaking 4,000 students in 2026.
In 2025, he was appointed Music Director of the Oregon Coast Music Festival, bringing together musicians from leading orchestras across the country for a summer series of performances. Majkut pursues thematic programing at the Festival, creating unity and continuity of programs within a season. He has expanded the range of repertoire, introducing contemporary voices with several premiere performances.
From 2016 to 2025, Majkut served as Music Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra in New York. During his tenure, the orchestra extended its season, deepened community engagement, and performed for audiences ranging from several hundred in intimate venues to 16,000 at its Fourth of July celebration. The special bond with the QSO musicians and the tangible affinity between Majkut and the players made this period among his most rewarding professionally.
In autumn of 2026, Majkut looks forward to leading a production of Hansel and Gretel at University of Iowa. In December he will be making his debut with Orchestra Iowa.
Born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), Majkut earned his Ph.D. in conducting from the Academy of Performing Arts. In 2003, he came to the U.S. as a Fulbright scholar and earned a second doctorate from the University of Arizona in 2008. He pursued further studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and the Wiener Meisterkurse in Vienna. He continues to guest conduct in his native Slovakia.
During the pandemic, Majkut reimagined the concert experience by producing a series of films, shorts, and documentaries for the RVS and QSO, and launched a video series titled What Goes Through the Conductor’s Head, offering a behind-the-scenes look at score study. Learn more at www.martinmajkut.com.
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