Biography
William Intriligator strongly believes in the power of symphonic music to transform lives, to unite communities, and to heal the world.
He currently serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra in Iowa and of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra in Wyoming. As an experienced orchestra leader, he has enabled both organizations to reach new audiences, attain new artistic heights, diversify programming, and achieve unprecedented success. He consistently brings a spirit of innovation to programming, an authentic and natural rapport with musicians, and a strong desire for community collaboration.
Intriligator’s 2025-2026 concert season at both orchestras includes carefully curated subscription programs that blend traditional concert favorites with works by women and other under-represented composers. Drawing on a wide and varied repertoire, he can deliver extraordinary interpretations of Mozart and Beethoven, yet also relishes the thrill of conducting programs with rock and country musicians. An eager opera conductor, he has led productions of works by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, and Puccini, and was previously Assistant Conductor of the Minnesota Opera. He conducted Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece La Favorita with Concert Opera of Greater Chicago in August 2025.
As a guest conductor, Intriligator has led performances with distinguished orchestras across the country, including those of Honolulu, Houston, Minnesota, Richmond, Saint Paul, Savannah, Syracuse, and Tulsa. In 2017, he made his European conducting debut in Italy with the Bari Symphony Orchestra. After the success of that concert, the orchestra immediately invited him to return to conduct two more programs.
Intriligator previously served as Staff Conductor at the Minnesota Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Southwest German Radio Orchestra. He was a regular guest conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for five seasons while living in the Twin Cities, conducting the SPCO in educational concerts, family concerts, regional tours, and concerts of new music.
Highlights of his 2025-2026 season in Dubuque include the commission and world premiere of Michael Gilbertson's Cello Concerto with the orchestra and cellist Zuill Bailey, recording a complete album of Gilbertsons music, launching a new chamber music series with DSO musicians, performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (in partnership with soloists, the Dubuque Chorale, and all area university and college choirs), performances of Sibelius' Finlandia side-by-side with the Dubuque Symphony Youth Orchestra, and concerto performances by pianist Michelle Cann, violinist Eleanor Bartsch, and Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey. Other collaborators include the Dubuque Chorale, the Dubuque Chorale Children's Chorus, the Heartland Ballet, rapper Wxlley, soprano Hannah von Mulert, vocalist and bandurist Viktoriia Slyvka, violinist and singer Ginny Luke, and rock vocalists Kristina Castañeda, Katie Koerperich, Chrystina Morteo-Bowman, Leslie Shalubi, Joie Wails, Cheri Westendorf, Joe Blanchard, Jake Ramos, and Brian Wade.
In Cheyenne, Intriligator's entire 2025-2026 Masterpiece subscription series is devoted to works by American composers in anticipation of the country's 250th anniversary in 2026. Familiar composers like Barber, Bernstein, Copland, Ellington, Gershwin, Gould, Grofé, Ives, Price, and Sousa are balanced by more contemporary voices like Abels, Giddens, Mason, Montgomery, Schifrin, Zwilich, and new Composer-in-Residence Jeff Lippencott. In addition, the orchestra and Myra Montfort Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey will record an entire album of Lippencott's music, including actor Gary Sinise narrating Lippencott's American Patriot Hymn. Guest artists in Cheyenne include Myra Montfort Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey, pianist Michelle Cann, soprano Christine Conover, Chicago Symphony Orchestra tubist Gene Pokorny, and CSO clarinetist Kellan Toohey, the Cheyenne Chamber Singers, the Cheyenne All-City Children's Chorus, the University of Wyoming Collegiate Chorale, the En Avant Dance Studio, and the Cheyenne Little Theatre. A concert performance of the musical 1776 and a performance on July 4, 2026 at the Wyoming State Capitol will cap the season and the orchestra's celebration of America.
During his tenure in Dubuque, Intriligator has presented many extraordinary productions including five staged operas, four staged ballets, and a staged production of West Side Story. He has worked very closely with artistic partners The Dubuque Chorale and the Heartland Ballet on a regular basis. He has spearheaded composer festivals (Mozart, Shostakovich, Beethoven), a multi-cultural festival, partnerships with Voices Art Festival and Bluff Strokes Art Festival, new educational initiatives, and concerts with world-renowned violinist Midori as part of the Midori Residency Program. He and the DSO accompanied musical prodigy Ethan Bortnick in a concert that became a popular nationally broadcast PBS television special, “The Power of Music."
In Cheyenne, Intriligator has initiated new concert ideas reaching more audiences through presentations such as films with live orchestra, Symphony Underground with regional bands, Symphony at Sunset, ballet productions, family matinees, multi-media productions, collaborations with local and regional choruses, a season-long exploration of women composers, and a multi-year Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss exploration. He has performed oboe concertos with the orchestra in its Baroque in the Barn series. Many will remember his unique productions with Cheyenne-native Sarah Hartmann: Music of the Spheres and Star-Crossed Lovers, the latter combined concert, opera, ballet, and theater in a staged retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
Intriligator believes that one of the most important roles of a regional orchestra is to promote local, native composers and performers. In Dubuque and Cheyenne, his orchestras have commissioned and premiered over 30 new works by such composers, as well as featured many local and regional performers as soloists.
Originally from Santa Monica, California, Intriligator earned many accolades as an oboist before turning to conducting. He graduated with highest honors in music from Princeton University. He then studied conducting in France with Charles Bruck and in Germany and Austria with Michael Gielen. He earned his masters and doctoral degrees in orchestral conducting at the University of Minnesota. Intriligator was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival for two summers and attended the Pierre Monteux School for four summers. He was also a protégée of Christian Thielemann in Germany, Italy, and the U.S.
Intriligator was named the "First Citizen of Dubuque" (Person of the Year) in 2024, recognizing the ways he has impacted the community for many years. In 2014, Intriligator and the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra received the Dubuque365 Impact Award in Music. Intriligator also received the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society's Elisha Darlin Award in 2013.
He currently serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra in Iowa and of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra in Wyoming. As an experienced orchestra leader, he has enabled both organizations to reach new audiences, attain new artistic heights, diversify programming, and achieve unprecedented success. He consistently brings a spirit of innovation to programming, an authentic and natural rapport with musicians, and a strong desire for community collaboration.
Intriligator’s 2025-2026 concert season at both orchestras includes carefully curated subscription programs that blend traditional concert favorites with works by women and other under-represented composers. Drawing on a wide and varied repertoire, he can deliver extraordinary interpretations of Mozart and Beethoven, yet also relishes the thrill of conducting programs with rock and country musicians. An eager opera conductor, he has led productions of works by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, and Puccini, and was previously Assistant Conductor of the Minnesota Opera. He conducted Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece La Favorita with Concert Opera of Greater Chicago in August 2025.
As a guest conductor, Intriligator has led performances with distinguished orchestras across the country, including those of Honolulu, Houston, Minnesota, Richmond, Saint Paul, Savannah, Syracuse, and Tulsa. In 2017, he made his European conducting debut in Italy with the Bari Symphony Orchestra. After the success of that concert, the orchestra immediately invited him to return to conduct two more programs.
Intriligator previously served as Staff Conductor at the Minnesota Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Southwest German Radio Orchestra. He was a regular guest conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for five seasons while living in the Twin Cities, conducting the SPCO in educational concerts, family concerts, regional tours, and concerts of new music.
Highlights of his 2025-2026 season in Dubuque include the commission and world premiere of Michael Gilbertson's Cello Concerto with the orchestra and cellist Zuill Bailey, recording a complete album of Gilbertsons music, launching a new chamber music series with DSO musicians, performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (in partnership with soloists, the Dubuque Chorale, and all area university and college choirs), performances of Sibelius' Finlandia side-by-side with the Dubuque Symphony Youth Orchestra, and concerto performances by pianist Michelle Cann, violinist Eleanor Bartsch, and Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey. Other collaborators include the Dubuque Chorale, the Dubuque Chorale Children's Chorus, the Heartland Ballet, rapper Wxlley, soprano Hannah von Mulert, vocalist and bandurist Viktoriia Slyvka, violinist and singer Ginny Luke, and rock vocalists Kristina Castañeda, Katie Koerperich, Chrystina Morteo-Bowman, Leslie Shalubi, Joie Wails, Cheri Westendorf, Joe Blanchard, Jake Ramos, and Brian Wade.
In Cheyenne, Intriligator's entire 2025-2026 Masterpiece subscription series is devoted to works by American composers in anticipation of the country's 250th anniversary in 2026. Familiar composers like Barber, Bernstein, Copland, Ellington, Gershwin, Gould, Grofé, Ives, Price, and Sousa are balanced by more contemporary voices like Abels, Giddens, Mason, Montgomery, Schifrin, Zwilich, and new Composer-in-Residence Jeff Lippencott. In addition, the orchestra and Myra Montfort Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey will record an entire album of Lippencott's music, including actor Gary Sinise narrating Lippencott's American Patriot Hymn. Guest artists in Cheyenne include Myra Montfort Artist-in-Residence cellist Zuill Bailey, pianist Michelle Cann, soprano Christine Conover, Chicago Symphony Orchestra tubist Gene Pokorny, and CSO clarinetist Kellan Toohey, the Cheyenne Chamber Singers, the Cheyenne All-City Children's Chorus, the University of Wyoming Collegiate Chorale, the En Avant Dance Studio, and the Cheyenne Little Theatre. A concert performance of the musical 1776 and a performance on July 4, 2026 at the Wyoming State Capitol will cap the season and the orchestra's celebration of America.
During his tenure in Dubuque, Intriligator has presented many extraordinary productions including five staged operas, four staged ballets, and a staged production of West Side Story. He has worked very closely with artistic partners The Dubuque Chorale and the Heartland Ballet on a regular basis. He has spearheaded composer festivals (Mozart, Shostakovich, Beethoven), a multi-cultural festival, partnerships with Voices Art Festival and Bluff Strokes Art Festival, new educational initiatives, and concerts with world-renowned violinist Midori as part of the Midori Residency Program. He and the DSO accompanied musical prodigy Ethan Bortnick in a concert that became a popular nationally broadcast PBS television special, “The Power of Music."
In Cheyenne, Intriligator has initiated new concert ideas reaching more audiences through presentations such as films with live orchestra, Symphony Underground with regional bands, Symphony at Sunset, ballet productions, family matinees, multi-media productions, collaborations with local and regional choruses, a season-long exploration of women composers, and a multi-year Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss exploration. He has performed oboe concertos with the orchestra in its Baroque in the Barn series. Many will remember his unique productions with Cheyenne-native Sarah Hartmann: Music of the Spheres and Star-Crossed Lovers, the latter combined concert, opera, ballet, and theater in a staged retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
Intriligator believes that one of the most important roles of a regional orchestra is to promote local, native composers and performers. In Dubuque and Cheyenne, his orchestras have commissioned and premiered over 30 new works by such composers, as well as featured many local and regional performers as soloists.
Originally from Santa Monica, California, Intriligator earned many accolades as an oboist before turning to conducting. He graduated with highest honors in music from Princeton University. He then studied conducting in France with Charles Bruck and in Germany and Austria with Michael Gielen. He earned his masters and doctoral degrees in orchestral conducting at the University of Minnesota. Intriligator was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival for two summers and attended the Pierre Monteux School for four summers. He was also a protégée of Christian Thielemann in Germany, Italy, and the U.S.
Intriligator was named the "First Citizen of Dubuque" (Person of the Year) in 2024, recognizing the ways he has impacted the community for many years. In 2014, Intriligator and the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra received the Dubuque365 Impact Award in Music. Intriligator also received the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society's Elisha Darlin Award in 2013.