Nadège Foofat
Nadège Foofat is a conductor, arts leader, and educator whose career combines distinguished conducting training with extensive professional orchestral experience. She holds a Doctor of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Montreal and completed advanced studies in contemporary conducting at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana under Arturo Tamayo. A participant in the League of American Orchestras' Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview and a two-time GRAMMY® Award–nominated conductor, she has built a career that reflects both artistic leadership and entrepreneurial vision.
Foofat is the Founder and former Music Director of the Esopus Chamber Orchestra, where she established the organization's artistic vision and led its development as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving New York's Hudson Valley. She is also the Founder of Classical at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, a chamber music series presenting internationally acclaimed artists in curated performances.
As a guest conductor, Foofat has collaborated with professional orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Canada and has been selected repeatedly as a finalist in Music Director searches across North America. Her upcoming season includes return guest appearances with the Vancouver Island Symphony and Long Bay Symphony. She previously served as Assistant Conductor to Kent Nagano at the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Her recordings include Jonathan Newman's Bespoke Songs (New Focus Recordings), which she conducted and which was nominated for the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, and Darius Milhaud's L'Orestie d'Eschyle for Naxos, for which she served as Associate Conductor on the 2015 GRAMMY® Award–nominated recording.
In addition to conducting, Foofat performs as a violinist and violist in chamber music collaborations. She has held faculty positions at Keene State College, Shenandoah Conservatory, and Bard College. She holds performance degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School.