Martha Stoddard, conductor
Bacewicz Overture
Mahler/ arr. Britten What the Wildflowers Tell Me
Cardona-Ospina Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra
intermission
Sibelius Symphony No 3
Martha Stoddard (Marty) enjoys a multi-faceted musical career as conductor, composer and flutist. She assumed the leadership of the Oakland Civic Orchestra in 1997 and began her 28th season as Music Director in August 2024. Praised for her clarity, generosity and vision, she continues to guide the 85-piece orchestra to new heights, and has earned accolades and multiple American Prizes in orchestral performance, programming and chamber music. Under her leadership the orchestra also provides conducting opportunities for emerging conductors, many of whom have gone on to enjoy careers on the podium.
Stoddard is also the Music Director of the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra and a popular guest conductor of the Awesome Orchestra. Previous conducting positions include the Community Women’s Orchestra, Holy Names University Community Orchestra, San Francisco Composers’ Chamber Orchestra, and Enriching Lives Through Music. Stoddard also held the position of Program Director for the John Adams Young Composers Program at the Crowden Music Center for three years and was Director of Instrumental Music at Lick-Wilmerding High School from 1991 - 2021, where she also served as Performing Arts Department Chair and JV Tennis Coach.
Always eager to grow artistically, in 2023 and 2024 Marty applied to and was selected as a Conducting Fellow for professional workshops in Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute. In 2024, she also enjoyed her first large-scale opera engagement, conducting Verdi’s La traviata with Verismo Opera in Vallejo.
Marty is a strong advocate for living and women composers, having conducted many contemporary works, premieres and commissions. Recent performances include premieres by Alexis Alrich, Jessica Krash, Monica Chew and Niko Umar Durr, as well as seldom heard works by Ruth Gipps, Naomi Dodd, Doreen Carwithen, Germaine Tailleferre, Grace Williams, Florence Price and Louise Farrenc. In 2019 she brought the Oakland Civic Orchestra into the final round of the Ernst Bacon Prize for the Performance of American Music and in 2020 she was a finalist in the American Prize Competition for Conductors, Community Orchestra Division. Originally trained as a flutist, she continues her freelance performance practice and serves as principal flute for the Handel Opera Project and Piedmont Chamber Players. Her flute music is published by Tetractys in the UK. In her free time she enjoys composing and playing tennis.