Whether on the concert stage performing masterworks and pops or in the orchestra pit
conducting opera and ballet, his insightful musicality and collaborative spirit come together to create a fun, inviting, energetic, and enriching atmosphere at each rehearsal and performance.

Maestro Brian Dollinger celebrates more than twenty years as the Music Director and
Conductor of the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he was successfully re-appointed as the artistic leader for not only the MSO, but the Clinton Symphony Orchestra and the Hawaii-based Kamuela Philharmonic. He continues to serve as Music Director of the West Hawaii Dance Theatre on the Big Island of Hawaii as well. His charisma, energy, technical clarity, and deep musical passion continues to inspire musicians and audiences alike across the country. He has conducted orchestras of a variety of levels and locations throughout the United States and in Europe.

During the summer of 2014, Mr. Dollinger made his debut as conductor for the summer
opera program of the Genesius Guild. He conducted numerous successful performances of the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Mr. Dollinger conducted the 2015 summer performances of Puccini’s Gianni Schicci at Lincoln Park in Rock Island with great success and subsequently returned to conduct productions of Copland’s The Tenderland and a trio of operatic gems: The Telephone, The Old Maid and the Thief, and A Hand of Bridge. Maestro Dollinger has also conducted performances of numerous other staged productions including The Music Man, Showboat, My Fair Lady, Dido and Aeneas, and a world premier work orchestrated by award-winning composer Robert Sadin, Muscatine! The Musical.

Mr. Dollinger has a passion for teaching, conducting, and mentoring musicians of all ages. He has experience with music students from the earliest of beginnings of learning to graduate and post-graduate learning. This has led to a number of conducting positions with educational institutions and organizations. These include Bradley University, Central Illinois Youth Symphony, Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra, Ball State University Symphony Orchestra, and the East Central Indiana Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, this passion has also led our Maestro to be co-founder in the creation of the Illinois Chamber Music Academy. This newly created music education program is designed to teach kids, fifth through twelfth grades, independence and leadership roles as well as individual roles within a community striving for a common goal. For more information on this project visit ICMusicAcademy.org.

As a member of the National Association for Music Education, Maestro Dollinger is a
frequent conductor and clinician for various youth string festivals, competitions and
workshops. He has conducted highly successful engagements throughout Illinois and Iowa. These events have included all-day festivals rehearsing, teaching, mentoring and performing with some of the state’s best high school symphonic musicians. He continues to make appearances at elementary and high schools working with student ensembles and talking about music with the youngest of students down into kindergarten. A sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and speaker, Maestro Dollinger welcomes each and every opportunity to work with young students and musicians.