Ransom Wilson
International Soloist, Conductor, Chamber Musician, Recording Artist,
Music Director of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Professor of Flute - Yale University (1992-2023)
Camilla Huxford Endowed Chair in Orchestral Studies, University of Alabama (from 2023)
10K Custom Flute with 14K Toneholes, Embouchure & Mechanism, Inline, B & C Foot, C# Trill
Ransom Wilson has long been recognized internationally as one of the greatest flutists of his generation. After graduation from the Juilliard School in 1973, he spent a year in Paris as a private student of Jean-Pierre Rampal. In 1976 he gave his official debut concert in New York City, with Rampal as his guest artist. An exclusive recording contract with Angel/EMI followed soon thereafter, along with extensive performances all over the world.
As flute soloist, he has appeared in concert with some of the greatest orchestras and artists of our time, including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, Frederica von Stade, Jessye Norman, Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Sir James Galway, Barry Douglas, Peter Frankl, Robin Sutherland, and many others.
Ransom Wilson is turning increasingly to a career in orchestral and operatic conducting. He founded Solisti New York orchestra in 1981, with which he appeared as conductor in hundreds of concerts and recordings. More recently he has conducted two productions at the New York City Opera. Since 2006 he has been a member of the musical staff at the Metropolitan Opera. Additionally, he is Artistic Director and conductor of a new ensemble, LE TRAIN BLEU, which recently received rave reviews for its debut performance at New York City’s innovative Galapagos Art Space.
He has appeared as guest conductor with England’s London Symphony Orchestra and Hallé Orchestra, the Hermitage State Orchestra in Russia, the Cracow Philharmonic (Poland), KBS Symphony (South Korea), the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Denver Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (with Sir James Galway), San Francisco Chamber Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, New Jersey Symphony, Budapest Strings, Hartford Symphony, and Berkeley Symphony.
In addition to his current work at the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera, Wilson has conducted numerous productions with the opera companies of Glimmerglass, Minnesota, and Portland. In 2004 he conducted the U.S. Premiere of Gounod’s comic opera Le médecin malgré lui (with recitatives by Erik Satie) at Yale University. Internationally, he has conducted operas at the Festival La Quincena in Spain, and the International Opera Center in Amsterdam.
Ransom Wilson hails from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is an Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, was the Professor of Flute at Yale University from 1992-2023, is currently the Camilla Huxford Endowed Chair in Orchestral Studies at the University of Alabama. He is Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, and Artistic Director of LE TRAIN BLEU ensemble.