Ari Rudiakov

Violist and conductor Ariel Rudiakov is co-Director of Vermont's Taconic Music, Inc. He is also Music Director and conductor of the Danbury (CT) Symphony Orchestra and Yonkers (NY) Philharmonic, and Assistant conductor of the Greenwich (CT) Symphony Orchestra. He attended pre-college at Manhattan School of Music and went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees at SUNY Purchase and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rudiakov was a scholarship student at Yale University’s master’s program where he studied with Jessie Levine and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. He enjoys a diverse musical life, performing to critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and abroad - recently, chamber music for Kawai a Ledro Festival in Italy and guest violist with the Hyperion String Quartet. He is a former member of the New York Piano Quartet and Equinox String Quartet, and a founding member and past president of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City). Mr. Rudiakov was Artistic Director of the Manchester (VT) Music Festival from 2000 to 2016. Among his recordings are the complete string quartets by Camille Saint-Saëns and the piano quintet by Vittorio Giannini (MSR Classics), which Fanfare Magazine described as “utterly superb.” Composers Richard Lane, Philip Lasser and Coleridge Taylor Perkinson have dedicated works to Mr. Rudiakov. At the podium, his resident and guest conducting positions have included the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony, Bergen and Yonkers Philharmonics, Antara Ensemble, Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Sage City Symphony and recording sessions with Dance Theater of Harlem. From 2017 to 2022 Ari was conductor of the University of Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and chamber music coach.