Gregory Vajda
Artistic Director
Gregory Vajda joined Music in the Mountains as Artistic Director in 2009. He is also currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and a frequent guest conductor with groups around the world. His career has included roles as resident conductor for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Hungarian State Opera.
Vajda has led such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the symphonies of San Antonio, Honolulu, Charlotte, Santa Rosa, Louisville, Omaha and Silicon Valley. Equally in demand in Canada, he has appeared with the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony and Winnipeg Symphony.
Vajda has also enjoyed much success in the orchestra pit of the Atlanta Opera, Montreal Opera, and the Hungarian State Opera. In Europe he has worked with the Ensemble Intercotemporain, Klangforum Wien, Budapest Symphony and Hungarian Radio Orchestra to great acclaim.
Born in Budapest, Vajda is the son of renowned soprano Veronika Kincses. He studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and was a pupil of well-known composer and conductor, Peter Eötvös. He is also an accomplished clarinetist and composer.
Ryan Murray
Choral Conductor
Ryan Murray is gaining a reputation as one of the top choral conductors in northern California. He joined Music in the Mountains in 2008 and has garnered rave reviews from audiences and singers. The most recent highlights of the MIM Chorale include Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region.
Murray graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Sacramento, with degrees in vocal performance and bassoon. While completing his studies at CSUS, he served as assistant conductor of the orchestra and opera programs and performed as a guest soloist. He went on to teach bassoon at the same institution. He also served as Assistant Conductor and Director of Vocal Activities for the Academy at All Hallows orchestra and chorus in Sacramento.
Murray has been a Faculty Conductor for the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute (BASOTI), a nationally acclaimed summer program for pre-professional opera singers. This year he was a Faculty Conductor at the Opera Academy of California Summer Program, a position in which he works with conductors and voice teachers from opera companies around the world. Murray was also co-director of the California Youth Symphony Summer Orchestra Camp.
Murray is currently the Principal Conductor of the Townsend Opera in Modesto, with which he will be conducting The Mikado and Carmen this year. Since 2008, he has conducted many productions with the Townsend Opera, most recently a highly lauded production of Madame Butterfly. Murray is also currently the Director of Vocal Activities with the Vocal and Instrumental Teaching Academy (VITA) in Sacramento.
