Gaffigan will begin conducting next season for the critically acclaimed orchestra. “I have some big shoes to fill,” he said. “It’s pretty crazy that this is even happening. I’ve had the best training any conductor can have while studying at the Aspen Music School and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice.”

The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918 and has been considered one of America’s great orchestras. The orchestra stands today among the world’s most-revered symphonic ensembles. For the next two years, Gaffigan will conduct a concert subscription series, family concerts, and run-out concerts and will cover-conduct more than half of the concerts and work closely with Cleveland Orchestra Maestro Franz Welser-Möst.

“I am really lucky to be working so closely with the best orchestra in the United States,” Gaffigan said.

Gaffigan, who began conducting when he was 19, graduated from Rice in May with a master’s of music. He has studied with Larry Rachleff, professor of orchestral conducting at Rice, for the past two years. In September 2002, he conducted a world premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the guidance of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen in the program “SYNERGY.” He guest-conducted the Fort Worth Symphony’s 2002–03 season, cover-conducted for the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor, composer, and pianist André Previn, and conducted rehearsals with the Houston Symphony.

For the past three summers, Gaffigan attended the Aspen Music School as an academy conductor, and he received the school’s first Robert Harth Conducting Award. He debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2002.

Gaffigan holds diplomas from the New England Conservatory of Music, the Juilliard Preparatory School and the LaGuardia High School of Music and Art.

—Ellen Chang