RENEE NOEL GILLILAND

ABOUT

Renee Gilliland is the Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and Instructor of Music Education at the University of Colorado Boulder where she recently received her DMA in Orchestral Conducting and Literature. Her research topics and lectures include diverse repertoire, sensory-friendly concerts and models, and selected works by Emilie Mayer. Concurrently, she is the Assistant Conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. Gilliland has also served as the Associate Conductor of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra. She was awarded an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Denver where she was the Assistant Conductor of the Lamont School of Music Symphony and Opera Theater Orchestras.

Gilliland has conducted performances with the Boulder Philharmonic, Boulder Concert Band, Playground Ensemble, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and Bang on a Can All Stars among others. She has been a conducting participant in workshops and festivals in the United States as well as abroad in Austria, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. In 2021, Gilliland was featured in the inaugural Girls Who Conduct Conducting Symposium: Diverse Pathways to the Podium as part of the Ensemble Showcase. Passionate about discovering and promoting diverse repertoire, Gilliland contributes as the Youth Orchestra Assistant Editor for the African Diaspora Music Project.

Gilliland holds a Master of Music in Viola Performance with an outside area in Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Certificate of Violin Performance from the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music.

Gilliland has performed as a section violinist and violist with ensembles such as the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra in Washington, D.C., with the Richmond and Columbus, Indiana Orchestras, as well as Las Cruces, New Mexico, Brazos Valley, and El Paso, Texas Symphony Orchestras. Gilliland was selected to perform with the first International YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and performed as a Young Artist Competition Winner with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gurer Aykal.

Gilliland formerly served as the String Instructor at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas and as Director of Orchestras at Morton Ranch High School in Katy, Texas. Her orchestras received superior ratings and sweepstakes awards in competitions in and outside of the state of Texas. She enjoys guest conducting for All-Region and local orchestras as well as judging at region, area and state levels. Gilliland has also enjoyed being a guest clinician and conductor for the Denver Public Schools Intermediate Orchestra in the Citywide Orchestra Festival.