Delta David Gier is the Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony and leads the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts. Mr. Gier came to national attention in 1997 when he conducted a tour of Bizet's Carmen for San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater, and has since performed with many of the world's finest soloists and orchestras, including his St. Louis Symphony debut in April 2008. Mr. Gier studied at the University of Michigan with Gustav Meier, and as a student at Tanglewood and Aspen, also studied with Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Erich Leinsdorf, and Seiji Ozawa.