Our Music Director

Mikayla Black is so excited to continue in her role as conductor of the Utah Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2026-2027 season.

She is a proud graduate from the University of Utah, where she completed a Masters of Music in Conducting, studying with Dr. Jason Missal. While at the U, she conducted the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and the Clarinet Choir, which recently performed under her baton in Dublin, Ireland, at the 2024 ICA ClarinetFest.

Mikayla holds an undergraduate degree in music education from the esteemed Central Washington University music program, where she studied clarinet performance with Joseph Brooks, and conducting with Lewis Norfleet, Paul Bain, and Dr. T. Andre Feagin.

In addition to UPO, Mikayla is the Director of Bands at Olympus High School in Holladay Utah where she teaches multiple concert bands, jazz bands, percussion ensembles, a drum line, and a marching band.

She recently presented at the 2026 Utah Music Educators Association Conference and at the 2026 International Percy Grainger Symposium. Her thesis for the Percy Grainger Symposium will be published in the next quarterly issue of the Grainger Journal.

Mikayla also works as a performer and conductor for the Utah Clarinet Choir, the Utah Trombone Collective, and many other ensembles throughout the Salt Lake Valley, notably performing with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, and performing as a featured clarinet soloist in the Wasatch Winds Concerto Night in 2022. In 2024 she conducted the Lamb of God with a young adult orchestra and choir in Salt Lake City.