Roger Kalia, Music Director
With a dynamic podium presence and noted passionate interpretations, Indian American conductor Roger Kalia has been celebrated by audiences and industry professionals alike. Praised for bringing a “fresh view to classical music” (The Republic, IN), Kalia serves as Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony New Hampshire, and Orchestra Santa Monica. Kalia was recently appointed as the Artistic Director Designate of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra for the 2024-25 season, and he will assume the role of Artistic Director during the 2025-26 season. He is also Co-Founder and Music Director of the celebrated Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York. The recipient of several awards from the Solti Foundation U.S., including an Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency with Lyric Opera of Chicago and five Career Assistance Awards, Kalia has been praised for his “extraordinary leadership” (Courier & Press).
A versatile communicator and frequent guest conductor, Kalia is described as “leading with passionate intensity and a clear beat” as well as being “one to watch” (Long Beach Gazette). In recent seasons, Kalia has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Chicago Sinfonietta, Louisiana Philharmonic, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic (Poland), Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Redlands, Lima, Adrian, Bakersfield, Great Falls, Owensboro, Spokane, and Wheeling.
The 2024-25 season features Kalia’s debut with the Amarillo Symphony and a return to the Redlands Bowl to conduct the Grand Finals of the prestigious Young Artists Concerto Competition as part of the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival. In celebration of the Evansville Philharmonic’s 90th Anniversary Season, his opening concert will feature Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture (performed on the EPO’s inaugural concert in 1934), Adam Schoenberg’s Orchard in Fog featuring violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. He premieres Orchestra Santa Monica’s new commission by Jason Anthony Gomez titled Potentia, based on poetry by Anne Carmack (Santa Monica’s first-ever Poet Laureate), sung and narrated by acclaimed baritone Jubilant Sykes; and showcases a special in-depth presentation and performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 with Symphony NH titled “Exploring Eroica.”
In his various music director positions, Kalia has focused on innovative artistic partnerships highlighting a variety of community partners. In 2023, Kalia collaborated with acclaimed Bollywood singer Anuradha “Juju” Palakurthi and Symphony New Hampshire in a celebration of Indian culture via a history-spanning performance of Bollywood songs in their first-ever arrangement for Western instruments, Symphony Masala. He commissioned and premiered Orchestra Santa Monica’s inaugural art film in collaboration with composer Derrick Skye titled “We Gather: Black Life in Santa Monica,” and his early seasons leading the Evansville Philharmonic centered on collaborations with community organizations such as Historic Bosse Field, the Tri-State Hindu Temple, and the Evansville Wartime Museum. Kalia’s groundbreaking programming has been featured on PBS’s “On the Road with Brick Briscoe” and “Regional Voices.”
In 2011, Kalia and two of his colleagues co-founded the Lake George Music Festival, which has been described as “an unparalleled classical music experience in the Adirondacks” (Chronogram). As one of the nation’s foremost classical music artist retreats, the festival presents cutting-edge artists and composers performing classical and new music, traditional and experimental concerts and recitals of various sizes, open rehearsals, informational talks, and a variety of community outreach programs. Kalia’s leadership has been hailed as “unbounded and impressive” (The Glens Falls Chronicle) with concert performances of the Festival Orchestra being regularly featured on NPR’s Performance Today. Kalia has led programs ranging from semi-staged chamber operas to commissioned works and premieres. Kalia was recently featured on the UpBeat Podcast from “Everything Conducting” for his innovative work at the festival including the creation of its inaugural Conducting Fellowship program this past summer.
Kalia has collaborated with a wide range of artists including singers Angela Brown, Shayna Steele, Dan Domenech, and Jubilant Sykes; Grammy-winning trio Time for Three; Indian tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das; singer/songwriters Randy Newman and Randy Jackson; rock musicians Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls and Nancy Wilson of Heart; the B-52s; sitar player Anoushka Shankar; and actor Jack Black.
A native of New York State, Kalia holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Houston, and SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. Kalia is married to musicologist / violinist Christine Wisch.
[updated Oct 2024]