James Bagwell, who has conducted in Tulsa for nearly three decades, is the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra's new principal conductor.
Bagwell will lead five of the seven concerts in the TSO's Patti Johnson Wilson Classics series during the orchestra's 21st season, the Tulsa Flyer first reported. He steps onto the podium for the first time in the role at the opening night gala on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 101 E. 3rd St.
The appointment formalizes a relationship that stretches back to the TSO's earliest days. When the Tulsa Philharmonic declared bankruptcy and closed in 2002, a group of musicians approached Bagwell about conducting a new orchestra.
The TSO debuted in 2006 without a permanent music director, choosing instead a self-governance model in which musicians serve on the board and committees. Bagwell joined as a guest conductor in that inaugural season and has returned almost every year since.
"I feel as if, in many ways, I kind of grew up musically in Tulsa," Bagwell told the Tulsa Flyer. "After all, I've been coming here since about 1999, when I did my first shows with Light Opera Oklahoma. So that's almost 30 years."
Bagwell first arrived in Tulsa around 1999 to work on a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" with a college friend. That project led to about eight years as music director of Light Opera Oklahoma, where he conducted some 25 productions of operettas and classic musicals.
Beyond Tulsa, Bagwell directs the music program and co-directs the graduate conducting program at Bard College in New York. He was also named principal conductor of the Berkshire Bach Orchestra and Chorus in 2026 and has served as principal guest conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra since 2009. He has led ensembles at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Morgan Walker, the TSO's executive director, said Bagwell's long relationship with the orchestra and his artistic experience made him the right fit. As principal conductor, Bagwell will help shape programming but will not hold the responsibilities of a music or artistic director, preserving the TSO's musician-led structure.
Saturday's opening night program features three works: "Fandango," a concerto for violin and orchestra by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez Navarro performed by violinist Francisco Fullana; "Overture" by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz; and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major.
Bagwell called the Bacewicz piece short but dense. Written in 1943 during Germany's occupation of Poland, it contains a timpani motif that echoes the opening four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Tickets range from $54.75 to $113.50 and are available at 918-596-7111 or tulsapac.com.
Coming up
- Saturday, Sept. 26: Tulsa Symphony opening night gala, "Beethoven's Fourth," 7:30 p.m., Tulsa PAC, 101 E. 3rd St. Tickets: $54.75–$113.50.
- Saturday, Feb. 27, 2027: Leslie Odom Jr. performs with the Tulsa Symphony for a one-night-only concert.
