During Dr. Waldvogel's fall 2020 sabbatica, Professor Eric Dudley is Interim Director of Orchestras.

Dr. Nicolas Waldvogel conducts University Symphony Orchestra and teaches conducting and music history at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music since 2001. He has guest conducted the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande (Switzerland) and the State Philharmonic "Dinu Lipatti" (Romania). He was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Festival, where he studied with Gustav Meier, Seiji Ozawa, and John Nelson. He also assisted Horst Stein in a production of Wagner's Der Ring der Nibelungen at the Deutsche Oper, in Berlin.

Dr. Waldvogel has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, with Anonymous 4, and with Alan Gilbert. His recent credits include a performance of Ives's immense Fourth Symphony, Verdi's La traviata, Mozart's Così fan Tutte, Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony and the complete symphonies by Jean Sibelius. He also contributed to the "Symphony" article for Oxford Bibliographies Online. Dr. Waldvogel holds a B.A. in music from Harvard University, an M.A. in music from Harvard University, an M.M. in conducting and a Graduate Performance Diploma in conducting from Peabody Conservatory, and a Ph.D. in music history from Yale University. His primary conducting teacher was Frederik Prausnitz.