Scott Speck (Conductor) comes to The Suzanne Farrell Ballet from the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra and Joffrey Ballet. With recentemperformances in London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, Scott has acquired international acclaim as a conductor of passion, intelligence, and winning personality. He has conducted at the world's leading venues including Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall, London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, the Kennedy Center, San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, and ?the Los Angeles Music Center. His gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie, and Olga Kern have highlighted his recent and current seasons as Music Director of the Mobile ?Symphony Orchestra; and he has collaborated intensively with Carnegie Hall as Music Director of the West Michigan Symphony. He has led numerouSemperformances with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, ?Baltimore, Houston, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Vancouver, Romania, Slovakia, Buffalo, Columbus (OH), Honolulu, Louisville, New Orleans, Oregon, Rochester, Florida, and Virginia, among many others. Scott has conducted many Balanchine works for San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, including P ? rodigal Son, Serenade, Symphony in C, theme and Variations, Allegro Brillante, Bugaku, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in Three movements, Monumentu Pro Gesualdo and movements for Piano and Orchestra. Previously he held positions as Conductor of San Francisco Ballet; Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony; and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. Scott is also the co-author of three of the world's best-selling books on classical music and dance: Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies, and Ballet for Dummies. These books have been translated into 20 languages and are available around the world. A Fulbright scholar and summa cum laude graduate of Yale University, Scott is a regular commentator on NPR, the BBC, ABC Australia, and Voice of Russia. He has been featured in TED talks and at the Aspen Ideas Festival.