Otto-Werner Mueller Director of Orchestral Studies
Born in Bensheim, Germany in 1926, conductor Otto-Werner Mueller
has helped shape the orchestral training programs of distinguished musical
institutions in the United States and Canada. After studying conducting,
composition, piano, trumpet, and viola in Frankfurt, Mr. Mueller became
director of the chamber music department for Radio Stuttgart at the
age of nineteen, and was founder and conductor of the celebrated Radio
Stuttgart Chamber Choir. Two years later, he served as conductor of
opera and operetta for the Heidelberg Theater. In Heidelberg, he founded
the orchestra for dependents of United States military forces stationed
there. Emigrating in 1951 to Canada, Mr. Mueller worked extensively
for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as conductor of opera, ballet,
and symphonic presentations, and in 1958 became teacher and conductor
at the Montreal Conservatory. He later served as director of the Victoria
Symphony, and was founder and dean of the Victoria School of Music.
Mr. Mueller was a guest professor at the Moscow State Conservatory in 1963, and toured the Republics of the former Soviet Union in 1968 and 1970, conducting the Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Riga symphonies. He has conducted throughout North America and was a guest conductor at the Scottish National Orchestra and the Krakow Philharmonic.
Mr. Mueller has taught at the Yale University School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison, American Choral Foundation's Summer Institute, Aspen Music Festival, American Symphony Orchestra League's conducting seminars, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. He has trained conductors of major orchestras, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Swedish National Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Auckland (New Zealand) Philharmonia. Mr. Mueller currently is a member of the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Director of Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School.
