(Photo credit: Houston Symphony)

Conductor Robert Franz passed away on Sept. 2, following a battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He was 57.

Franz was born on March 10, 1968 in Kingston, New York. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance and a Master of Music degree in conducting from from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Franz started his career in 1997, as associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. He went on to serves as guest conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and Italy’s Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, among others. At the time of his death, he served as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, and as Artistic Director at Boise Baroque Orchestra.

Working as an activist for music education, Franz created highly respected arts education programs for several companies. His programming at the Louisville Orchestra led to the creation of an education program for Kentucky Educational Television entitled Creating Music and Stories. His Youtube channel features him reading dozens of children’s books that have garnered over 40,000 views. Franz was also a co-founder and conductor of the Idaho Orchestra Institute, and helped launch the Art of Conducting workshops at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.

Outside of conducting, Franz presented a TedX Talk entitled, “Active Listening and Our Perception of Time,” which inspired Idaho Legislature to invite him to speak to their education committee. He also presented this work at the League of American Orchestra’s conference.

He is survived by his husband, their three daughters, his parents, and sibling. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.