American conductor Emil de Cou has been an active participant in a wide range of National Symphony Orchestra performances and events since his debut at Wolf Trap in 2000. He formally joined the National Symphony conducting staff in 2002, and in addition to being Associate Conductor, this summer he begins his fifth season as NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor. In that capacity, his responsibilities include leading several of the NSO’s concerts at Wolf Trap, and acting as a spokesperson for the overall summer season. He has also led the Labor Day Weekend Capitol Concerts on the West Lawn of the US Capitol annually since 2002.

He has appeared as guest conductor with many leading orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Saint Louis, Detroit, Montreal, Boston Pops, Minnesota, Denver, Portland, and San Francisco, where he also served as Principal Pops Conductor. He was acting music director for the San Francisco Ballet and conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for eight seasons conducting performances at Lincoln Center as well as national and international tours.

Mr. de Cou’s performance of the ballet Othello was aired on Great Performances (PBS). The soundtrack by Academy Award winning composer Elliot Goldenthal, was recorded by Mr. de Cou for Varese Sarabande; among his other recordings is a disc entitled Debussy Rediscovered for Arabesque, which includes previously unrecorded works by Debussy.

De Cou made his Carnegie Hall debut as guest conductor for the New York Pops, and also appeared at the gala tribute to Beverly Sills at Lincoln Center with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and a stellar roster of soloists. His innovative concerts at the Wolf Trap Pavilion have included the first screenings of The Wizard of Oz with the score performed with live orchestra, the first ever live Twitter program notes (Beethoven Pastoral Symphony) and live in-time pod cast for a concert called “Fantastic Planet.” In 2008 he conducted the first performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies.

As part of his work as musical consultant for NASA he has conducted several successful collaborations with the nation's space agency, most recently on July 18, "Salute to Apollo, the Kennedy Legacy" at the Kennedy Center in honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. The sold-out, multi media performance included film excerpts, narration by Buzz Aldrin, and performances with Denyce Graves, Shaka Khan, and the US Army Chorus. In 2010 he will conduct a multi media concert to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope.

In 1985 de Cou was hired by Mikhail Baryshnikov to be the conductor of the American Ballet Theatre afterward joining the staff of the San Francisco Ballet where he ended his tenure there as music director in 1998. He has also worked with the New York City Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Suzanne Farrell Ballet and others.

Emil de Cou was born in Los Angeles and studied with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. He was the subject of a documentary on National Public Radio and was chosen from 200 candidates to study in Leonard Bernstein's master class at the Hollywood Bowl. He makes his home in San Francisco.