David Itkin, celebrated both in the United States and internationally as a guest conductor in demand, begins his 12th season as Music Director and Conductor for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2004.

During the past several years, Maestro Itkin's career has taken him to 43 states and 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, including recent concerts with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Slovenska Filharmonija at Cancarjev Dom in Ljublijana, Solvenia. Other recent guest conducting engagements include concerts with the Seoul Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, the Shanghai Broadcast Symphony, the Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Reno Chamber Orchestras, and the Colorado Philharmonic, as well as concerts with the Slovenska Filharmonija at the Festival Pianistico Internazionale in Bergamo, Italy. Maestro Itkin's guest conducting engagements during the 2004-2005 season include concerts with the National Repertory Orchestra at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado, the Annapolis Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Abilene Philharmonic, and a return engagement with the Slovenska Filharmonija in Ljublijana.

Mr. Itkin's reputation and talents reach far beyond the podium. He has served as a juror for numerous Competitions nationally and internationally, and his tone poem for narrator and orchestra, "Jonah", premiered in 2000 and was nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize. His newest composition, "Exodus," an oratorio, receives its premiere in April 2005.

Maestro Itkin's previous positions include serving as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra in Chicago (1997-2000), Music Director of the Kingsport Symphony (TN) (1992-1995), Music Director of the Birmingham Opera Theatre (1992-1995), and Music Director for the Lucius Woods Festival Concerts in Solon Springs, Wisconsin (1993-2000). From 1988 to 1993 Maestro Itkin served Associate Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, during which time he was made Honorary Lt. Governor of the State of Alabama for outstanding service to the arts.