Musicians? Check. Instruments? Of course. The conductor? That would be Jed Gaylin, music director of New Jersey’s Bay Atlantic Symphony and one of Musical America’s recently named Top 30 Professionals of 2025. So, what’s missing?
“The audience is our co-creator,” says Gaylin. “Concerts are meant to be a conversation between the orchestra and the audience. You feel the attention, and the musical selection comes together differently each time you play it.”
Fulfillment Through Collaboration
Gaylin did not grow up with dreams of being a conductor. While he loved music as a child, he expressed his talents as a pianist and sometime flute player. When he played in his school orchestra, he found he loved working with others more than playing solo.
He developed his passion while enrolled at Oberlin Conservatory, where he earned degrees in piano and conducting, later adding a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the Johns Hopkins University Peabody Institute.
Gaylin notes that the field of conducting is quite competitive and securing a position is not guaranteed for recent graduates. “You have to be ready and be a little lucky.” He was one of only three chosen to audition out of 250 applicants for the Bay Atlantic Symphony position.
When he steps in front of the orchestra, he wants to make music with as much passion, subtlety and nuance as possible. “I like to open up space for the musicians to feel individually and collectively as fulfilled as possible,” which has earned Gaylin credit as a generous leader.
Leading with Passion on a Global Stage
Gaylin still loves playing the piano, but finds that for him, “a natural way to make music is to work with others and be that person who has the big picture.” He always tries to bring out the best in people on stage. “It’s been an amazing journey and continues to be one. Every day I feel like I’m still learning.”
Today, he leads two other orchestras alongside the Bay Atlantic Symphony: the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore.
Each group has its own personality, which Gaylin compares with having different dinner conversations with different groups of friends. He has also served as a guest conductor for orchestras in China, Spain, Romania, Mexico, Poland and many other countries.
Gaylin says the Musical America award was a total surprise. The 30 professionals chosen each year come from all types of positions in the classical music world. “I don’t focus on honors that may come with this job,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to make music with depth and skills and inspiration and share that as openly as possible with the audience.”
A Season of Classics and Innovation
Gaylin chooses a wide range of repertoire at the Bay Atlantic Symphony. The current season’s programming includes musical treasures from composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart along with exciting collaborations that showcase classics in a new light. Guest soloists include a Flamenco dancer, an Indian tabla player and the Orchestra’s own violin, horn and oboe principals.
Gaylin will lead concerts on Saturday, March 21, at 3 p.m. at Rowan College of South Jersey in Vineland and Sunday, March 22, at 2 p.m. at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center in Galloway Township. The concerts feature Copland’s Appalachian Spring, de Falla’s El Amor Brujo and Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll.
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