Elf In Concert

Described by Yannick Nézet-Séguin as “a musician who lives the music”, American conductor Conner Gray Covington performs an unusually broad repertory of symphonic, opera, and film repertoire ranging from Classical to the present day. In the 2025-2026 season, Covington debuts with the Boston Pops, Chicago Symphony, Houston Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, and Phoenix Symphony. He also makes return visits to the North Carolina Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and Tucson Symphony. Additionally, Covington returns to the Utah Symphony where he maintains a close relationship after completing a successful four-year tenure as Associate Conductor and Principal Conductor of the Deer Valley Music Festival.

During his tenure with the Utah Symphony, Conner conducted nearly 300 performances of classical subscription, education, film, pops, and family concerts as well as tours throughout the state and has returned several times each season as a guest conductor since 2021. Other recent guest conducting includes appearances with the Hawai’i Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony as well as the Bellingham Festival of Music and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Conner is a five-time recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S.

Conner’s operatic engagements include Britten’s THE TURN OF THE SCREW for the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA and the world premiere of Rene Orth’s EMPTY THE HOUSE at the Curtis Opera Theatre and LE NOZZE DI FIGARO for his debut with Utah Opera. He has also conducted more than twenty feature films with orchestra.