Artistic Director
Dr. Jeffrey Specht
Artistic Director and Conductor, OPACO
Dr. Jeffrey Specht is an American conductor, music educator, and arts advocate dedicated to fostering the love of music, enriching communities through live musical performance, and building musical community. Equally at home conducting symphonic works and opera, his performances have been hailed by critics as “exhilarating and inspiring!”
Dr. Specht is currently the Artistic Director & Conductor of the Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. Jeff has served as Music Director of the Soundstage Rhythm Orchestra in Portland, OR; Director of Orchestra and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College; Music Director and Instructor of the Campus Orchestra and Campus String Orchestra at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Music Director of the Metroplex Opera Co. in Dallas, TX; and Music Director of the Crow River Area Youth Orchestra in Hutchinson, MN. Jeff has appeared as guest conductor with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, the Central Texas Opera Festival, the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, the University of Minnesota Opera Theater, the Meadow’s Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, Bulgaria. Jeff holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; a Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX; and a Bachelor of Music degree in music theory from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He resides in Tigard, OR with his wife Laura and their Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Tosca.
