BiographyAaron Kaplan enjoys a multifaceted musical career as a conductor, musical director, cellist, music educator, and arranger. He earned a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the tutelage of Donald Schleicher, as well as his bachelor’s degree in cello performance and bachelor’s degree in music education with high honors also from the University of Illinois.
Aaron is the artistic director/conductor of the JAM Orchestra, a Chicago-based ensemble dedicated to performing a diverse repertoire of classical, Broadway, swing, and film music. He also conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra for the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Preludio Orchestra and Cello Choir at Music Institute of Chicago and is the assistant director of the Chicago Suzuki Institute. Previous positions include: Interim Conductor of the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestras and Music Director/Conductor for the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony and Community Orchestra in Springfield, Illinois. In 2013, Aaron stepped in at the last minute to conduct the opening night performance of The Nutcracker with Sinfonia da Camera and the Champaign Urbana Ballet. Aaron has continued his conducting studies at workshops in the United States and Europe with Gustav Meier and Larry Rachleff and has conducted the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic) and the New Symphony of Bulgaria. A dedicated teacher, Aaron is an orchestra director at Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools where he co-teaches the orchestra classes, conducts the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra, teaches AP Music Theory, writes orchestrations for both schools’ annual variety shows, and conducts the annual Glenbrook musical. A passionate advocate of the American musical theatre and preserving original orchestrations, Aaron is a Jeff-nominated music director has been the music director/conductor for over 80 musicals, the majority of which have utilized the complete orchestrations. Highlights include West Side Story, On the Town, Les Misérables, RENT, Chess, Guys & Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Producers. He was invited to conduct the orchestra for the Illinois High School Theatre Festival All-State Production twice; in 2013 for Memphis (premiere amateur production) and in 2017 for Sweeney Todd. Aaron has curated over a dozen cabarets and concert/lecture performances on a range of musical theatre topics including the music of Bernstein, Sondheim, and the music of Jewish composers. Aaron currently sits on the board of directors for several different theatre companies and was a co-founder/co-president of Illini Student Musicals on the University of Illinois campus. An active cellist, Aaron is currently a member of Sinfonia da Camera and the Heartland Festival Orchestra. He has also performed with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Quad City Symphony, and Illinois Symphony Orchestra. He has served as a guest cello and conductor clinician for the Hyde Park Youth Symphony, East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra, Illinois Summer Youth Music and the Chicago Suzuki Institute. As a freelance arranger, Aaron has written arrangements and orchestrations for numerous musical ensembles including Sinfonia da Camera, musical theatre cabarets, and Youth Choral Theater of Chicago. At the University of Illinois, Aaron was the recipient of the Theodore Presser Award in Music, the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts Talented Student scholarship, and three Division Achievement Awards for the String and Music Education divisions. Aaron conducted the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, Illini Strings, Opera Studio Orchestra, was cover conductor for The Barber of Seville, and held a graduate assistantship as the General Manager for the UI Symphony Orchestra. Aaron began studying cello at the age of 5 with Holly Compton, and then continued with Blake Brasch, Ani Aznavoorian, and Brandon Vamos, and chamber music with Stefan Milenkovich and the Pacifica Quartet. His conducting mentors include Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, and his teacher, Donald Schleicher. |
Photo by Jon Dessen
Photo by Jon Dessen
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Education•MM in Orchestral Conducting
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2013 • BM in Cello Performance University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2011 •BME in Music Education University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2011 |
Teachers• Donald Schleicher, conducting
• Brandon Vamos, cello • Ani Aznavoorian, cello • Stefan Milenkovich, chamber music • Pacifica Quartet, chamber music |
Positions• Orchestra Director,
Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools August 2013 - Present • Sinfonia Conductor, Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras, 2020 - Present • Preludio Orchestra Conductor, Music Institute of Chicago, 2015-2013 |
Musical Theatre• Music Director/Conductor for over 80 productions
•Jeff Nomination for The Wild Party with Blank Theatre Company (2022) •Allerton Barn Festival: Of Thee I Sing (2013) and On the Twentieth Century (2014) • Illinois HS All-State Theater Festival, January 2013 Memphis and Sweeney Todd (2017) |