Biography
Compelling interpretations, inventive performances, and an energetic stage presence are the hallmarks of American conductor Antoine T. Clark. He is the founding Artistic and Music Director of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra in Ohio and a passionate advocate for expanding access to classical music while fostering meaningful community engagement.
In the 2026–2027 season, Mr. Clark enters his fourteenth year leading the Worthington Chamber Orchestra with Resonant, a season honoring the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death in 2027. Built around Beethoven’s enduring symphonies, Resonant explores how his music continues to connect with audiences through rhythm, energy, struggle, and transformation. Fittingly for a composer who created some of his greatest works while losing his hearing, the season makes accessibility its defining commitment.
Mr. Clark most recently served as Associate Conductor of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, following two seasons as Assistant Conductor. His recent guest conducting engagements have included the Long Bay Symphony, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Juneteenth Festival Orchestra at UCLA, Gateways Music Festival on a two-city New York tour, Walla Walla Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Lima Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Symphony Tacoma, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Opera Columbus, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his guest appearances, he has served as a cover conductor for the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Xian Zhang. His work has garnered critical acclaim, including recognition from the Chicago Tribune for his “balletic poise” during the premiere of Joel Thompson’s breathe/burn: an elegy with the Chicago Sinfonietta. His previous positions include Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, Music Director of the Ohio Wesleyan University Chamber Orchestra and Ohio Northern University Symphony, and Assistant Conductor of The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra.
A dedicated educator, Mr. Clark sits on the Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s Education Committee and recently completed an interim appointment as conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra – Concert Orchestra. In 2024, he founded the Music Academy of Worthington, a community-focused music school offering high-quality instruction to students of all ages and levels. He previously served as Music Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra of the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra, leading the ensemble in a featured performance at the 2025 Ohio Music Education Association Conference. His educational work spans from young beginners to college-level music majors, and he continues to lead initiatives that support inclusive, community-centered engagement with classical music.
A frequent speaker on equity and access in the arts, Mr. Clark has participated in professional development events and panels hosted by the International Conductors Guild, Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Youth Orchestras Online DEI panel—a 2021 collaboration between the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestras. He has also contributed to the Washington Musical Pathways Initiative’s Careers in Music panel and served as a clinician and mentor through the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Workshop Academy. Through these and other initiatives, he works to promote inclusive practices, elevate underrepresented voices, and foster a more welcoming environment across the classical music field.
A strong advocate for new music, Mr. Clark regularly commissions and premieres works for symphonic and chamber ensembles. In the 2025–2026 season, he led the world premieres of a new violin concerto by Aaron Quinn; Old Worthington Suite: Life in a Pioneer Village by Marshall H. Barnes, originally a chamber work newly orchestrated by Jacob Reed; and a concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Ben Shirley. He has also conducted premieres by Korine Fujiwara and Evan Williams, and has collaborated with composers including Aaron Quinn, Ben Shirley, Mark Lomax II, Michael Rene Torres, Matthew Saunders, Christopher Weait, Linda Kernohan, Ching-chu Hu, and Vera Stanojević.
Mr. Clark has participated in numerous prestigious conducting programs and festivals, including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Monteux School and Music Festival, and the Mostly Modern Festival. He is a former Project Inclusion Conducting Freeman Fellow with the Chicago Sinfonietta and has studied in masterclasses and workshops with distinguished conductors across the country.
His artistry has been recognized through numerous national and regional honors. In 2025, Mr. Clark was named Winner of The American Prize in Conducting (Professional Division) and Co-Winner of The American Prize National Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music in the Professional Ensemble & Conductor Division. That same year, he earned Second Place in Orchestral Performance (Professional Division) and Third Place in Orchestral Programming (The Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award). In 2024, he earned Third Place at the Los Angeles Conducting Workshop and Competition and received the Columbus Symphony Music Educator Award. That same year, he was selected as a recipient of the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Arts Elevated Award, honoring outstanding artistic contributions to Central Ohio. Previously, he was named the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s 2022 MAC Music Innovator, leading education and outreach performances throughout the community.