Dorian Neuendorf

Dorian Neuendorf is currently Artistic Director of the Hendersonville Symphony Youth Orchestra and Operations Manager of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. She has recently served as Assistant Conductor to the National Music Festival, Principal Conductor of the Columbia Community Orchestra in Columbia, South Carolina and Assistant Conductor for Opera at the University of South Carolina. Ms. Neuendorf has appeared in concert with the National Music Festival Orchestra, Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, the St. Michel Strings, the Nanchang Philharmonic, USC Symphony Orchestra, USC Campus Orchestra, and the Cleveland State University Chamber Orchestra, among others, as well as several conducting appearances in concerts of new music. A composer herself, Ms. Neuendorf has conducted her own works in concert, and is passionate about promoting the works of fellow living composers. She has most recently been seen performing with the ebb:flow music collective of Columbia, South Carolina as well as CiCA (Collaborations in Contemporary Art) at USC.

A strong advocate for music education, Ms. Neuendorf has worked extensively with various education initiatives. She has worked with MOO! (Music Outreach Organization) at the University of South Carolina to bring musical experiences to the community at the Richland County Library and EdVenture Children’s Museum. As a bassoonist, she has been part of performances and presentations at countless elementary and secondary schools, presenting the instruments of the orchestra to school-aged children through solo, chamber and orchestral performances. 

Ms. Neuendorf holds a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of South Carolina, where she was a student of Dr. Donald Portnoy and Maestro Neil Casey. Additionally, she has worked with David Amado, Marin Alsop, James Ross, John Nelson, Kenneth Kiesler, Diane Wittry, Jorge Mester, and Paul Vermel, among others, in workshop. Having recently attended the National Music Festival, Ms. Neuendorf has also conducted at the Atlantic Music Festival, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, has been a Fellow at the Conductors Institute of South Carolina, a Fellow at the Conductors Institute of Nanchang, China, a participant at both the Oberlin Conservatory Conducting Institute and the Conductors Retreat at Medomak, and twice been selected to participate in conducting masterclasses with Maestro Sasha Mäkilä. Ms. Neuendorf holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Bassoon Performance from Cleveland State University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.