Delta David Gier (born April 3, 1960) is an American conductor. Gier is Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, following 15 seasons with the New York Philharmonic as an assistant conductor. He has directed most major orchestras in the United States and has worked extensively with orchestras across Central and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Gier has received national recognition as an advocate for both contemporary classical music and the role of local arts organizations in intercultural community building. In 2012, he was selected for ASCAP’s John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music and in 2022 he received the Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music. In Columbia University’s presentation of the latter award, Gier is described asa widely renowned conductor who is remarkable in his dedication to contemporary American music. [… H]e has shown an unstinting commitment to programming American orchestral works, many of them premieres. He has developed the program Bridging Cultures, which is devoted to promoting the music of indigenous and diverse communities. He is a model of the engaged conductor.
Biography
Education and early career
Gier was born in Sherman, Texas, on April 3, 1960, to Jonelle and Delta Warren Gier. He began studying trumpet with Dick Jorgenson at the age of 15, starting with instruction privately and at Interlochen Arts Camp.
In the 1980s, Gier was a conducting student at both the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied with many acclaimed conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Erich Leinsdorf, Seiji Ozawa, and Gustav Meier. In 1984, Meier invited Gier to pursue postgraduate studies with him at the University of Michigan. After completing his Master of Music degree, Gier apprenticed with the Philadelphia Orchestra for the 1986–87 season at the invitation of Riccardo Muti.
Gier began his conducting career as a Fulbright Scholar in Eastern Europe from 1988 to 1990. During this period he led numerous critically acclaimed performances with orchestras in Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Turkey, including a tour with the State Philharmonic of Košice in former Czechoslovakia. Several of these concerts served to introduce Eastern European audiences to American music: Gier conducted the Romanian premiere of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the Bucharest Philharmonic and the Turkish premiere of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Ankara.
New York Philharmonic
In 1994, Music Director Kurt Masur selected Gier to be an assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic, a role he maintained for 15 seasons under the direction of both Masur and Lorin Maazel. Gier’s debut performance with the Philharmonic was in the summer of 2000, conducting a program including Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet suite and Bernstein's overture to Candide. The concert was reviewed positively in The Journal News, where Gier was praised at length for "guiding splendid performances": "Gier demonstrated the ability to control this orchestra, not always an easy task, and put together interesting interpretations. He set up the musical climaxes masterfully[. ...] In his hands, the energy was held in check until the last possible moment and the concluding whirlwind was very effective."
Gier conducted many educational concerts with the New York Philharmonic, as well as with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Over his last two seasons as assistant conductor, he served as both host and conductor for two complete series of the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts, becoming the first person to do so since 1952.
During his tenure at the Philharmonic, Gier pursued a variety of guest engagements, including a tour of over 60 performances of Bizet’s Carmen with San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater in 1997. Also in 1997, Gier participated in the National Conductor Preview at the invitation of the League of American Orchestras.
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra
In 2004, Gier was appointed Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO), which has grown substantially and garnered national attention under his leadership.