MUSIC DIRECTOR
Nikolas Caoile
Music Director and Conductor
Nikolas Caoile is a conductor, pianist, and music educator. Currently, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestras at Central Washington University. He has also served as Music Director of the Lake Union Civic Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Salem Chamber Orchestra. Other appearances include Third Angle New Music, Auburn Symphony, Harmonia, Rainier Symphony, Yakima Symphony, and Olympia Symphony. He conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas with Christopher Wheeldon's Morphoses Dance Company at New York City Center. Caoile participated at the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music and served as Opera Coach Fellow for the Aspen Opera Theatre. In 2021, the CWU Symphony Orchestra performed Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
A passionate believer in music education for all ages, Caoile has led numerous educational and community engagement concerts including the Alaska, Indiana, and Idaho All-State Orchestras, the Washington All-State Junior Orchestra and honor orchestras in Washington, Montana, Alaska, Arizona, Oregon and Indiana. In 2024, Caoile will direct the All-City Middle School Orchestra in Salem, Oregon. In 2016, Caoile received the Outstanding Orchestral Achievement Award from the Washington Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Caoile regularly presents clinics at National Association for Music Educators Regional and State Conferences and has served as a presenter for Seattle Symphony Pre-Concert Talk series.
Caoile performs regularly as a collaborative and solo pianist. Most recently, he performed Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 7 and Philip Glass’ Piano Concerto No. 3 with Sempre Chamber Music. An active recording artist, his work includes releases with Jeffery Snedeker “The Contemporary Natural Horn” and John Harbaugh “New Trumpet Vistas”.
Caoile holds degrees in conducting and composition and completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan. In 2019, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Willamette University. He was also awarded the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award from CWU’s College of Arts and Humanities.
Learn more:
