Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting the PSO in ballet, popular classics, and holiday concerts and creating highly successful online educational programs featuring Bach’s Musical Offering. Dr. Flanders’ opera credits include the premiere of a set of one-act operas by composer Daniel Felsenfeld with The Secret Opera, Kamala Sankaram’s The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace with New Camerata Opera, and serving as Assistant Conductor with Peabody Opera Theater.

Dedicated to educating the next generation of musicians, Dr. Flanders travels frequently to Panama to work with both professional and student ensembles. She was the conductor of the Symphony and Repertory Orchestras at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division as well as the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey. Previous academic positions include the University of Maryland- Baltimore County, Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College- CUNY, University of Chicago, and Utah State University.

Dr. Flanders holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, Mannes College, and the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with conductor Marin Alsop.