The American conductor, arranger, and pianist Scott  Dunn studied piano with the legendary Byron Janis and is a former assistant to Lukas Foss – whose complete solo piano works Dunn recorded (Naxos, 2007). Noted for his advocacy of American and contemporary music, Dunn has a special interest in cross-over and film composers – ranging from George Gershwin to Rachel Portman. Since his momentous Carnegie Hall début playing his own orchestration of Vernon Duke’s ‘lost’ Piano Concerto in C, Dunn has brought light to neglected works of composers ranging from Franco Alfano, Vernon Duke, and Duke Ellington to his mentors Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Lukas Foss, Leonard Rosenman and others. 

As conductor Dunn has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Vienna Radio Orchestra (RSO) and countless other distinguished ensembles. Dunn has collaborated with numerous headliners, including Trey Anastasio, Beck, Chris Botti, Bill Charlap, Billy Childs, Elvis Costello, Il Divo, David Foster, Sutton Foster, The Indigo Girls, Sean Lennon, Claire Martin, Steve Martin, Leslie Odom Jr. and Rufus Wainwright among others. Dunn is the Associate Conductor for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 2012 and previously held positions at Pittsburgh, Glimmerglass and New York City Operas. He also serves as principal conductor for the Parnassus Society at Soka Performing Arts Center. 

Dunn’s new ensemble, the Scott Dunn Orchestra, comprised of the worlds greatest studio musicians and created in 2024 in partnership with The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, is borne from Dunn’s passion for film music, its creators, and the rich heritage of music from Hollywood and Broadway. This interest traces back to Dunn’s close friendship with composer Leonard Rosenman, whose brilliant score for Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Dunn adapted, arranged and premiered with the LA Philharmonic at Disney Hall in 2016. He often conducts Rebel and other live orchestra-to-film concerts throughout the US and Europe. His work with contemporary film composers, includes Rachel Portman, for whom he conducted the BBC Philharmonic in Mimi and the Mountain Dragon (Decca, 2019) for world-wide annual Christmas BBC broadcasts; with Lior Rosner for whom he recorded Sugar Plum on The Run with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Jeremy Irons (Sony, 2019) and with Danny Elfman, for whom he worked on Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton. – as well as work on other Elfman concert works including his 2008 ballet Rabbit and Rogue for Twyla Tharp and the American Ballet Theatre.

As an orchestrator and arranger of the highest calibre, Dunn studied orchestration privately with his friend Richard Rodney Bennett. Through Bennett, Dunn discovered composer Vernon Duke and the Duke piano concerto, which had been written for Arthur Rubinstein but never completed. Dunn orchestrated the work and premiered it at Carnegie Hall in 1999 as part of the official Gershwin Centennial concerts. He recorded the concerto in Moscow with the Russian Philharmonic in 2007 (Naxos,2007). He subsequently reconstructed Duke’s The End of St Petersburg oratorio for performance in St. Petersburg, Russia and recorded a ‘new’ Duke musical, Misia (PS Classics, 2015), which he arranged, adapted and recorded with a brilliant cast headed by Marin Mazzie and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. For the concert platform Dunn adapted and performed his own arrangements of Arnold Schönberg’s Brettl-lieder for voice and chamber ensemble (2013/2018, Belmont), Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerilla (2018) for four pianos and Duke Ellington’s New World A-comin’ for solo piano and chamber jazz ensemble (2019).  In 2023 Dunn’s highly personal tribute recording,  I Watch You Sleep – Scott Dunn Celebrates Richard Rodney Bennett with Claire Martin and the Royal Philharmonic (Stunt 23012), earned Dunn the UK Arts Desk Album of the Year award, as well as universal praise for Claire Martin’s singing and Dunn’s arrangements, conducting and playing. 

As a pianist and collaborator, Dunn has appeared with many of the world’s finest artists and ensembles. He is an acclaimed champion of contemporary and American music who, early in his career, toured Eastern Europe as an “Artistic Ambassador’ for the USIA playing twentieth century American works such as Ives’ Concord Sonata and the Carter Piano Sonata. He has premiered and recorded works by such composers as John Adams, Richard Rodney Bennett, Julius Eastman, Lukas Foss, Phillip Glass, Peter Lieberson, Leonard Rosenman and Ned Rorem. 

In coming seasons, Dunn looks forward to the release of two new recordings – one with the Britten Sinfonia of mid-century modernist film music arranged and directed by Dunn and another complete recording of film music arrangements for solo piano featuring Dunn. In future seasons, he also looks forward to the premiere of a new rhapsody for piano and orchestra commissioned from composer Joby Talbot.

Dunn is a Steinway Artist 

Scott Dunn – Steinway & Sons

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