Conductor · Opera & Orchestra
Into the emotional heart of the music.
Karin Hendrickson conducts opera and orchestra — equally at home in both, on podiums across four continents. This site is deliberately not a résumé. It is the shorter account: who she is, and how she thinks about music.
In a hurry? The facts, on one quiet page
I · Beginnings
Learning orchestras from the inside.
The piano came first, at age four. At twenty-three her composition Carry the Flame became the official theme of the Salt Lake City Olympic Torch Relay, recorded by Aretha Franklin — an early sign of what she believes music is for: speaking to vast audiences without talking down to any of them.
Before she ever raised a baton she stood inside the sound: singing with the London Philharmonic Choir under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Vladimir Jurowski while training at the Royal Academy of Music, where she graduated with Distinction. She learned orchestras the way singers learn breath — from the inside.
II · The concert, rethought
What is a concert for?
Orchestra Alchemy© is Karin’s answer: change the concert experience to one of innovation and connection, through deep and meaningful storytelling with insights into the music. “Think orchestral TED Talks.” Sixty to ninety minutes, no interval — nothing between the audience and the story.
Beethoven’s Second Symphony braided with the letter he nearly left as his last. The music Mozart gossips about in his own letters. Scheherazade — a woman telling stories for her life. The repertoire is the canon; the telling is hers.
Six programmes, told this wayIII · Passing it forward
The next pair of hands.
Karin’s work with young musicians reflects her commitment to passing forward the artistry she values. She has prepared young orchestras for Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Tilson Thomas and Marin Alsop, and worked with everyone from the pre-professional Concertgebouworkest Young to ensembles playing their very first notes.
Since 2025 she has directed orchestras and graduate conducting at the University of New Mexico, carrying what international podiums taught her into the rehearsal rooms of the people who will follow. For the youngest there is KidMaestro© — empowering kids through music and creativity.
Coda
Say hello.
For engagements, for programmes, or for a good conversation about music — write.