NYCB Names Beatrice Jona Affron as New Associate Music Director
Affron will join the company on August 1 following nearly three decades as music director of Philadelphia Ballet and ahead of New York City Ballet's 2026-27 season.
Beatrice Jona Affron has been appointed New York City Ballet's Associate Music Director. Affron, who currently serves as Music Director for the Philadelphia Ballet, will start her position with NYCB on August 1, 2026, as the Company begins preparing for its 2026-27 Season.
In July Affron will appear with NYCB as a guest conductor during the Company's annual summer engagement at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, conducting performances of Symphonie Espagnole, a new ballet by Tiler Peck to a score by Édouard Lalo.
As NYCB's Associate Music Director, Affron will work closely with Music Director Andrew Litton to oversee and implement artistic and administrative functions for the Company's Music Department and will regularly conduct the 62-piece New York City Ballet Orchestra. Affron will replace Andrews Sill who is retiring. Sill joined NYCB as a conductor in 2009 and was appointed Associate Music Director in 2014.
Affron's appointment with NYCB is a homecoming for the conductor who was born and raised in New York City. A graduate of Yale University, Affron studied conducting with Robert Spano and Pascal Verrot at the New England Conservatory of Music where she later served on the faculty. Affron joined the Philadelphia Ballet (formerly the Pennsylvania Ballet) as an assistant conductor in 1993 and four years later became the Company's music director. In Philadelphia Affron has conducted numerous ballets by George Balanchine, the co-founder of New York City Ballet, and a large repertory of works including Philadelphia Ballet's full-length productions of Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake.
Affron has also conducted for Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Houston Ballet, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Miami City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Oklahoma City Ballet. During NYCB's 2026 Winter Season, Affron appeared with the Company as a guest conductor, leading the NYCB Orchestra for performances of Alexei Ratmansky's The Naked King (music by Jean Françaix), Justin Peck's Everywhere We Go (music by Sufjan Stevens), and Peter Martins' full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty (music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky).
“In conducting for the premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's The Naked King, Beatrice's musicianship, as well as her positive, collaborative spirit, was very impressive,” said Litton. “She was immediately at home working with our orchestra on a difficult new ballet and the resulting performances were masterful. I know she will be a wonderful asset to New York City Ballet.”
In addition to her work in dance, Affron has extensive experience in contemporary music and opera, where her credits include leading the national tour of Philip Glass' Les Enfants Terribles in 1997 and conducting the World Premiere of Glass' Galileo in 2002. Affron has also conducted for Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Glimmerglass Opera, and Boston Opera.
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