Ben Firer

Benjamin Firer joined the faculty of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts in August 2025 as Assistant Professor of Conducting.  Firer’s multifaceted role includes conducting the large ensembles, teaching conducting and orchestral studies courses. 

Based in Chicago, he also serves as Music Director of the Harper Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of Harmonie North. Guest conducting engagements for the 2025–2026 season include Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra, Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and cover conducting the Orlando Symphony Orchestra. 

A dynamic and sought-after guest conductor, Firer has appeared with orchestras nationally and internationally, including the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra (Hungary), Milwaukee Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, DuPage Symphony, Miami Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, and Orchestre de la Francophonie (Canada). He has also served on the conducting staff of the Quad Cities Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, and Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra.  He previously directed collegiate orchestral programs at Northeastern Illinois University, Penn State University, Juniata College and Lewis University.  Firer serves as a conducting mentor with the Illinois Council of Orchestras devoted to supporting budding orchestral conductors and music educators.

Passionate about inspiring the next generation of musicians, Firer has held conducting positions with several of the nation’s leading youth orchestras, including the New York Youth Symphony, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Engaged as a teaching artist through the Yale University Music in Schools Initiative, he taught at the John C. Daniels Magnet School while serving as Music Director of the Yale-Saybrook College Orchestra.

Firer contributions have been recognized by numerous awards and fellowships. He was recently awarded “Orchestra of the Year” by the Illinois Council of Orchestras for his leadership of the Quad City Symphony Youth Orchestra, and is the recipient of the 2024 Williamson Music Education Grant.  He has been named an Emerging Conductor with the Peninsula Music Festival, Associate Conductor at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and a Conducting Fellow at the Atlantic Music Festival.  Additionally he was a scholarship recipient at the National Orchestral Institute, Chautauqua Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival and Norfolk New Music and Chamber Music Festivals.  

Equally at home in the operatic world, Firer has conducted fully staged productions of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Copland’s The Tender Land, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Walton’s The Bear, and Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein.

Other distinctions include The American Prize in Conducting, the Woolsey Concerto Competition, Yale Chamber Music Competition, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship, the Long Island University Conductors Award, the SUNY Thayer Fellowship in the Arts, and the Emma Peters Hooper Endowed Award. As an orchestral musician, he has recorded on the Naxos and Albany labels.  Firer holds a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University and a Master’s Degree from Yale University.