Jared Chase Music Director

Jared Chase is an accomplished conductor, educator, and trumpeter based in Rochester, New York. Now in his second season as Music Director of the Penfield Symphony Orchestra, he will lead the ensemble in performances of repertoire including Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Hovhaness’s Mysterious Mountain, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Stravinsky’s Firebird as well as other works by Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Williams, Higdon, Dvorak and others.

Chase is also Music Director at First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford, where he has led performances of major choral-orchestral works by composers such as Fauré, Rutter, Vivaldi, Haydn, and Handel. From 2017 to 2025, he served as Music Director of the New York State Ballet. His versatile career spans chorus, orchestra, musical theatre, opera, ballet, and wind ensemble, and he has guest conducted ensembles across the United States and Canada. In higher education, Chase has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Nazareth University, where he is Director of Wind Studies. At Nazareth, he teaches conducting and chamber music while leading the Nazareth Wind Symphony, an ensemble invited to perform at major conferences including the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), and New York State Band Directors Association (NYSBDA), and which has also toured internationally.

Chase earned degrees in music education and trumpet performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and completed both his Master of Music in trumpet performance and Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). As a trumpeter, he remains an active freelance performer with the Wilmot Brass Quintet and has appeared with many professional orchestras across the United States.