Na’Zir McFadden, recipient of the 2026 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, is emerging as one of the most compelling young conductors of his generation. He has been celebrated for his “great conducting technique and energetic podium presence” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, while Boston Classical Review praised the “rhythmic vitality and naturally expressive nuances” of his interpretations.
McFadden currently serves as Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and Conducting Fellow with the San Diego Symphony. These appointments follow his tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2022–2025. In Detroit, he worked closely with Music Director Jader Bignamini and collaborated with artists including Jessie Montgomery, Billy Childs, Anna Clyne, Awadagin Pratt, and Steven Banks. His work there also reflected a deep commitment to education and community engagement, fostering collaborations with schools, local organizations, and cultural institutions across the city.
At just 25 years old, McFadden’s career highlights include debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Nashville Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago in a recording project featuring violinist Hilary Hahn. He also maintains a close relationship with Philadelphia Ballet.
During the 2025/26 season, McFadden debuts with the San Diego Symphony and Houston Ballet, returns to Philadelphia Ballet, and leads multiple programs with the Jacksonville Symphony.
In 2024, McFadden was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was mentored by Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, Thomas Wilkins, and Dima Slobodeniouk. During the fellowship, he conducted the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in numerous performances, including a last-minute step-in to lead Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in Ozawa Hall.
This past summer, he returned to Tanglewood to conduct two performances. He led the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra in a program featuring works by Florence Price and Shostakovich, and later shared the podium with Elim Chan and Keith Lockhart for the annual Tanglewood on Parade concert in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, conducting Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait alongside historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Born in Philadelphia, McFadden began his musical training as a clarinetist at age nine before turning to conducting while still in school. He studied conducting with Paul Bryan of the Curtis Institute of Music and later at DePaul University with Cliff Colnot. In 2020, he became the Robert L. Poster Conducting Apprentice of the New York Youth Symphony and was appointed the inaugural Apprentice Conductor of Philadelphia Ballet.
