Starting this month, Daniel Wiley will join the Jacksonville Symphony team as assistant conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and music director of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras.
Wiley joins the Jacksonville Symphony from the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Daniel to the team,” said Lory Doolittle Endowed Director of Education and Community Engagement Marianne Rice. “His extensive background in both music education and orchestral conducting make him the perfect fit for the job.Music education in our community is a major priority for the Symphony, and Daniel is the right person to energize our education programs.”
Prior to his tenure in Jacksonville, Wiley was the associate conductor of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, where he conducted over 65 concerts a season, and led the organization’s three community ensembles. Wiley was instrumental in expanding the WSO’s educational footprint by creating a Digital Education Concert Series, which includes 10 hours of interactive music curriculum for schools. Lauded as “an exemplar of impassioned and outstanding pedagogy,” this program has served over 122,550 students across Canada and the United States.
Wiley also served as the conductor for the Windsor Abridged Opera, an education consultant for London Symphonia, and has spent time as a sessional at the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts, where he conducted their Wind Ensemble. In 2019 Wiley was the second prize recipient of both the Smoky Mountain Conducting Institute and Competition, and the Los Angeles Conducting Competition.
As a former public school music teacher, Wiley has a unique passion for music education, frequently donating his time as a guest clinician for school music programs throughout the United States and Canada. Recently, he has been invited to conduct the Texas Music Educators Association’s Region 32 High School Orchestra Clinic in Austin, Texas.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Jacksonville Symphony as music director of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras and assistant conductor,” said Wiley. “What excites me most about the Jacksonville Symphony is that it is an organization that is so clearly dedicated its mission: enriching the lives of people through symphonic music. Whether it’s offering a variety of concert experiences with a world-class orchestra or providing young musicians an opportunity to improve their skills in one of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras, the Jacksonville Symphony is clearly integrated into the vibrant culture of Jacksonville, and I can’t wait to join this great orchestra and community.”
As music director of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras, Wiley will guide, shape and direct the educational and performance activities of the six ensembles in the Youth Orchestra program. Wiley will also serve as assistant conductor of the symphony with the opportunity to conduct programs across a variety of genres.
The JSYO serves more than 200 talented musicians from all over Northeast Florida through six levels of ensembles — two full symphonies and four levels of string ensembles — that vary by repertoire and technical advancement. The Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra season begins in September and ends in mid-May.
