Praised for his “long-breathed phrases and luscious tone” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Canadian flutist Conor Nelson is established as a leading flutist of his generation. Since his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he has appeared frequently as soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad. Recent performances include engagements with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Philharmonia of Yale, the Manhattan School of Music Philharmona, the Stony Brook Symphony, the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, the Brevard Repertory Orchestra, the Festival Wind Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and at the Banff Centre. The only wind player to win the Grand Prize at the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, he recently won first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. In addition, he has received top prizes at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and the Haynes International Flute Competition.

As a chamber musician, he performs regularly with marimbist/percussionist, Ayano Kataoka as part of the Conor and Ayano Duo. Involved in several exciting commissioning projects for their genre, the duo has performed in Merkin Concert Hall, CAMI Hall, The Tokyo Opera City Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Izumi Hall, and as guest artists for the Ottawa Flute Association in Canada. He has also collaborated with Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Ani Kavafian, Colin Carr, Jesse Levine, and the Biava and Calder string quartets. With the Intrada Winds he was a prizewinner at the Fischoff, Coleman and Yellow Springs national chamber music competitions and performed at several prestigious concert series throughout the United States. Festival appearances have included the OK Mozart International Festival, Yellow Barn, Look and Listen (NYC), the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Contemporary Ensemble, and the Chamber Music Quad Cities series where he is a regular guest. As an orchestral flutist, he has worked with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Tulsa Symphony as well as prestigious summer programs including the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Aspen, Banff, and Brevard summer music festivals.

A dedicated educator, Conor is currently the Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University. Having previously taught at Stony Brook University, he has also given master classes at schools such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin Madison, Manhattan School of Music, the University of Iowa, The University of North Texas, The University of Minnesota, Penn State, The University of Oklahoma, Long Island Conservatory, Illinois State University, the University of Kansas and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory among several others. He received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and Stony Brook University where he was the winner of the school-wide concerto competitions at all three institutions. His principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Ransom Wilson, Linda Chesis and Susan Hoeppner.

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