NEWS
8.01.2025
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce that Stephanie Rhodes-Russell has been named Resident Conductor for the 2025-2026 season. She will conduct the Stars of the Symphony concert on August 20, featuring soloists from the FWSO orchestra, and the Wild West Rodeo Pops concerts on January 16 and 17, 2026 featuring iconic Western images from the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth. She will also conduct a wide range of educational and community-based concerts during her tenure.
President and CEO Keith Cerny noted, "I first observed Stephanie Rhodes Russell's conducting 10 years ago when she was part of the inaugural class of conductors at the Hart Institute for Women Conductors I founded in Dallas. Since then, her career has flourished, leading to many significant symphony and opera engagements. FWSO Music Director Robert Spano and I are very happy to welcome Stephanie as part of the symphony's artistic leadership team."
8.08.2025
On a late-summer Wednesday inside the jewel box of downtown Fort Worth — the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall — the city’s beloved orchestra will do something rare. For one night only, the spotlight shifts not to the podium or a touring soloist, but to the musicians themselves — the heartbeat of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO).
“Stars of the Symphony,” taking place August 20 at 7:30 p.m., is no ordinary evening at the hall. Led by Resident Conductor Stephanie Rhodes Russell...
5.23.2023
In summer 2023, Cincinnati Opera presents the world stage premiere of The Knock, with music by Aleksandra Vrebalov and a libretto by Deborah Brevoort. Co-commissioned with The Glimmerglass Festival, The Knock tells the story of a group of military wives awaiting news of their husbands who have been deployed to Iraq. Meanwhile, a young army officer makes the long journey to their gathering place to deliver difficult news. Named for the expression used by military spouses for a death notification, The Knock is based on years of interviews with spouses of soldiers, offering a sympathetic glimpse into the lives of America’s military families. Cincinnati Opera’s new production of The Knock is helmed by women: composer Vrebalov, librettist Brevoort, stage director Alison Moritz, and conductor Stephanie Rhodes Russell, who will lead the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
2.22.2023
OPERA America is pleased to announce the first-round recipients of the 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. The program incentivizes professional opera companies of all sizes to engage women in these key artistic roles. These hires enrich the production and performance of new operas and works from the inherited repertoire and inspire future generations of creative artists who identify as women. The initiative is generously supported by the Marineau Family Foundation.
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Eight grants were awarded to nine opera companies that are advancing the careers of women artists...
4.25.2023
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The day before she headed to Madison in early April, Stephanie Rhodes Russell made an Instagram Reel: “A conductor’s guide to packing. ONLY ESSENTIALS.”
Into her open suitcase went the score to Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” which she conducts this Friday and Sunday with Madison Opera in Overture Hall. In went her baton and black clothing, the maestro’s uniform.
Then she tossed in dinosaurs (three plastic ones), a toy car (orange), baby wipes, suction bowls (to prevent meal-throwing), silicone bibs, a board book, a blankie and a sippy cup.
Like many conductors, the Texas-based Rhodes Russell is often on the road. She conducted “Susannah” at Wolf Trap Opera in Virginia last summer, “The Barber of Seville — a “Figaro” prequel, written by Gioachino Rossini — in Austin last fall, and “The Daughter of the Regiment” at Utah Opera in January...