William Garfield Walker

William Garfield Walker is a conductor based in Vienna and Chief Conductor of Nova Orchester Wien. A four-time recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2022–2025), he has conducted orchestras across Europe, Asia and the United States, with a career encompassing both symphonic and operatic repertoire.

As Chief Conductor of Nova Orchester Wien, Walker has led performances at the Musikverein and Wiener Konzerthaus, with repertoire encompassing Mahler, Bruckner, Sibelius, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, alongside contemporary music and Austrian premieres. Highlights of his work with the orchestra include Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony in the Great Hall of the Wiener Konzerthaus, in collaboration with the International Bruckner Society. His artistic leadership has also brought the orchestra into collaboration with Universal Edition, the Arnold Schönberg Center and the Gustav Mahler Foundation on major concert projects. In January 2027, he conducts Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony in the Great Hall of the Musikverein in a concert presented by Jeunesse.

Walker has conducted orchestras including the Sofia Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Reino de Aragón, Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands, Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, and Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. He has also recorded with the Wiener Concert-Verein for Solo Musica at Vienna’s Musikverein and was subsequently re-invited to conduct the orchestra on tour to Switzerland.

In the 2026/27 season, Walker joins the musical staff of Lyric Opera of Chicago as Staff and Cover Conductor. Previously, he held the Solti Foundation U.S. Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency at Washington National Opera and Assistant Conductor positions with English Touring Opera and Chicago Opera Theater. Selected by Riccardo Muti to conduct at the Tokyo Spring Festival as part of the Italian Opera Academy, he led the Tokyo-HARUSAI Festival Orchestra.

Among his further distinctions, Walker held the AAF’s Ansbacher Fellowship at the Salzburg Festival, following selection by members of the Vienna Philharmonic and the AAF. He also received First Prize in The American Prize in Conducting, professional orchestra division.

Before turning to conducting, Walker worked internationally as a cellist, performing as an orchestral and chamber musician and soloist, including recitals in North America, Europe and Asia. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and performed under conductors including Riccardo Muti and Vladimir Jurowski. He subsequently studied conducting in Vienna and further developed his craft with Riccardo Muti, Paavo Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Jorma Panula and Mikhail Jurowski.

Also a composer published by Universal Edition, Walker’s solo, chamber and orchestral works have been performed at the Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus and Palau de la Música Catalana, with works for dance presented at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Sarajevo Ballet Festival.