Dr. Nell Flanders

Assistant Professor | Director of Orchestral Activities

nellflanders@isu.edu

• B.M. 1994, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
• M.M. 1996, University of Akron
• M.M. 2015, Mannes College of Music- The New School
• D.M.A. 2020, Peabody Conservatory of Music- Johns Hopkins University

Joined ISU faculty in 2022

Nell Flanders received a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance with a minor in piano performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, OH, a Master of Music degree in violin performance from the University of Akron and a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from Mannes College- The New School in New York City, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. 

Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. She is the Director of Orchestral Activities/Assistant Professor at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU Chamber Orchestra. 

From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting the PSO in ballet, popular classics, and holiday concerts and creating highly successful online educational programs. Dr. Flanders’ opera credits include the premiere of a set of one-act operas by composer Daniel Felsenfeld with The Secret Opera, Kamala Sankaram’s The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace with New Camerata Opera, and serving as Assistant Conductor with Peabody Opera Theater. She is a regular conductor and violinist with The Chelsea Symphony in New York City, with whom she will appear this season in performances at Merkin Concert Hall and the DiMenna Center.

Dr. Flanders travels frequently to Panama to work with both professional and student ensembles. She was the conductor of the Symphony and Repertory Orchestras at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division from 2014-2021. Previous academic positions include the University of Maryland- Baltimore County, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College- City University of New York, University of Chicago, and Utah State University.