Kory Katseanes

Kory Katseanes is a former Director of the School of Music. He came to BYU in 1999 as Director of Orchestras. As Director of Orchestras, he oversees the orchestral program that accommodates nearly 400 students enrolled in the five University orchestras, and directs the graduate orchestral conducting program. He conducts the BYU Philharmonic and the BYU Chamber Orchestra in their campus concerts, throughout Utah, and on their regular tours throughout the world.

Professor Katseanes is a native of Blackfoot, Idaho and moved to Salt Lake City in 1974 to continue his education. He joined the Utah Symphony in 1975 as a violinist and served as Assistant Conductor from 1987 to 2002. He regularly conducted the Symphony on the Entertainment, Youth, and Family Series at Deer Valley, Snowbird, and Abravanel Hall, and at numerous venues locally, throughout Utah, and in the surrounding Western States. During his fifteen years as the assistant conductor, he played a significant role in the education programs of the Utah Symphony, programming and conducting concerts which the orchestra performed in Utah’s schools.

He has worked with such artists as The King’s Singers, the Chieftains, Kathy Mattea, Nanci Griffiths, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Michael Martin Murphy, Riders in the Sky, and The Manhattan Rhythm Kings, among others. His work with dance companies includes Rudolph Nureyev and Friends, Repertory Dance Theater and the Twin Cities Ballet, and he was the founder and Music Director of The Utah Virtuosi, a professional chamber orchestra in Salt Lake City.

Recent guest conductor appearances include the Utah Symphony, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra, community orchestras throughout the West, and all-state orchestras in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Utah, and Wyoming. In 2008, he received the Utah ASTA award for Music Educator of the Year.

Professor Katseanes received master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Utah and an associate degree from Ricks College. Conducting studies were with renowned conductor Josef Rosenstock. Violin teachers included Oscar Chausow, Lamar Barrus, Kathryn Katseanes, Zvi Zeitlin, and Elaine Richey. Prior to BYU, he was on the faculties of Illinois Wesleyan University and Ricks College.

He and his wife Carolyn (Landes), are the parents of four children. He is also an avid golfer.