Elizabeth Askren Conductor

Elizabeth Askren graduated in piano and conducting from the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Conducting Institute of Bard in the United States, and the Schola Cantorum and the Ecole Normale de Musique in France. 

Her musical mentors include conductors Marin Alsop and Lorin Maazel, and pianists Byron Janis and Sergio Perticaroli. Elizabeth Askren has built a vibrant career by empowering musicians around the world, whether from the podium as a conductor, as an educator, as a creator, and as a speaker on issues of leadership, diversity and more. 

She performs regularly with leading opera houses and orchestras in North America and Europe. The 2022-23 season includes guest conducting at The Dallas Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opéra de Dijon, and Paris Opera Academy. 

As a teacher at the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute and conducting teacher at the Paris Opera Academy, she is frequently invited for masterclasses, international juries, and to speak on such topics as nonprofit leadership, the importance of classical music and cultural entrepreneurship, which led her to give a TEDx talk "Why Classical Music is the Wave of the Future".

Deeply committed to education, Elizabeth Askren is the Founder and since 2017 Artistic Director of TOA – Transylvanian Opera Academy, Romania’s first opera studio. TOA offers a 360° approach to education, taking a holistic approach to helping its young artists to develop as humans as well as musicians, all while giving back to their communities.