Gabriel Sakakeeny is the Music Director of the American Philharmonic - Sonoma County and President of the American Philharmonic Association. As the progenitor of our orchestra and the new paradigm that is the foundation for its success, he is a living example of what 21st century leadership in the arts looks like. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the world-renowned Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, he has for thirty-five years conducted, taught, composed for and led professional and student groups throughout the United States and Canada, Western Europe, and Asia.

Maestro Sakakeeny is known for his extraordinary ability to communicate the essence of musical ideas and for producing breakthrough performances with all types of groups. A Houston music critic once wrote, “Sakakeeny led the Campanile Orchestra in a totally convincing performance of the (Brahms) First Symphony. In a day when most conductors have forgotten what holds a piece of music together in performance, Sakakeeny’s powerful sense of musical logic is too great a treasure to waste.”

Always striving to raise the bar for the orchestra, the audience and for each musician, Maestro Sakakeeny is also known for his warmth, wisdom and generosity. “Intensity, joy and beauty don’t come from technical perfection, but rather from the perfection of the artist’s intent. When there is no ego, only the music and the connection between all of us in the hall, that’s when beauty happens.”