How to Train Your Dragon in Concert

Throughout his career, Ogren has sought out projects that challenge conventional concert formats and expand the role of the orchestra in contemporary cultural life. His work ranges from large-scale symphonic repertoire to opera, premieres by leading composers, collaborations with artists across disciplines, and community-based performances that invite new audiences into the orchestral experience. This spirit of curiosity and innovation has become a defining hallmark of his artistic career.

Ogren is Music Director of the Monterey Symphony in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Director of Orchestras at the University of Michigan, where he conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra, Contemporary Directions Ensemble, and Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of Philadelphia’s contemporary music ensemble Orchestra 2001.

He began his professional career as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (2006–2009). Since then, he has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music and interdisciplinary collaboration, Ogren has conducted numerous acclaimed projects, including Basil Twist’s The Rite of Spring with Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center; the world premiere of David Lang’s Symphony for a Broken Orchestra, bringing together more than 400 amateur and professional musicians in Philadelphia; the 30th-anniversary performances of Frank Zappa’s The Yellow Shark with Orchestra 2001; and the world premiere of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown at Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

For more than a decade, Ogren has collaborated closely with the Leonard Bernstein Office. His projects have included the New York premiere of Bernstein’s only opera, A Quiet Place, at Lincoln Center; the European premiere of the film-with-live-orchestra version of West Side Story at London’s Royal Albert Hall; and the world premieres of new orchestrations of Fancy Free and Dybbuk.

Ogren is also a longtime collaborator of singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. He conducted the U.S. premiere of Wainwright’s opera Prima Donna at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Scandinavian premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera, and the Deutsche Grammophon recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Their collaborations have continued with performances alongside the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and other leading ensembles.

A dedicated educator, Ogren has taught and conducted at Princeton University, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Cleveland Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Music Academy of the West, and the Verbier Festival. In collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and Juilliard Pre-College, he also developed and led an innovative workshop on orchestral rehearsal techniques for music educators.

As a composer, Ogren has received commissions from ensembles throughout the United States. His Symphonies of Gaiafor symphonic wind ensemble has been performed internationally and is published by C. Alan Publications.

Ogren earned degrees from St. Olaf College, New England Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar with Alan Gilbert and Jorma Panula. His wife, Carly Berger Ogren, is an architect, and together they have an adventurous son, Alistair. An avid athlete, he has competed in the Big Sur, Boston and New York City marathons, the JFK 50 Miler trail run, and the Ironman Lake Placid triathlon. As an individual member of 1% for the Planet, Mr. Ogren is proud to connect his artistic work with his deep love of nature and concern for the environment.