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Adam M. Bodony (Indianapolis, IN) is currently serving as Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where he directs the Philharmonic, Symphony, and University Orchestras in addition to overseeing the department’s applied music program and the Sandra Yover Haas String Quartet. Since Bodony’s arrival at Purdue University in 2015, orchestra enrollment has nearly doubled, creating the need for an additional two orchestras.
Under Bodony’s direction, the Purdue Philharmonic Orchestra was named Winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance (college/university division) in 2021 and Runner-Up in 2023. Also in 2021, Bodony was named Runner-Up by The American Prize in Orchestral Conducting (college/university division).
Bodony is also currently serving as Artistic Director of the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra, Indiana’s premiere youth orchestra organization, recently named Winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance (youth orchestra division) in 2023. Comprised of approximately 200 young musicians from across the state of Indiana and based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall (2016, 2019, 2022, 2025), Orchestra Hall in Chicago (2017), and the Music for All National Festival (2018) under Bodony’s direction.
As an avid supporter of music education, Bodony serves as the Orchestra America National Festival Coordinator and Educational Consultant for Music for All.
Bodony’s previous posts include Artistic Director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra (2014-2016), Associate Conductor of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra (2013-2015), Artistic Director of the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony (2019-2022), and Cover Conductor and Pre-Concert Lecturer for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (2014-2015). He has also worked with several professional, collegiate, high school, and community ensembles throughout the world.
Bodony earned a bachelor’s degree in both religious studies and trombone performance from DePauw University in 2008. He later received a master’s degree in trombone performance from Indiana University in 2011, where his primary teachers were Jim Beckel and Carl Lenthe. Bodony also pursued conducting studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (Russia) and Indiana University. His primary conducting teachers include Arthur Fagen, Leonid Korchmar, and Kirk Trevor. As a trombonist, Bodony has frequently performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and can be heard playing 2nd trombone on two album releases under the Telarc (2012) and Steinway (2014) labels, conducted by Krzysztof Urbański and Jun Märkl, respectively. In 2024, Bodony was named a “40 Under 40” Music Educator by the Yamaha Music Corporation, and in 2013, he was honored with the Beckmann Emerging Artist Award given by the Arts Council of Indianapolis to a young professional with exceptional talent and promise in a given field.