About Steve Hackman
A multi-hyphenate musician and creative visionary, Steve Hackman is a daring voice intent on redefining art music in the 21st century. At once a composer, conductor, producer, DJ, arranger, songwriter, singer, and pianist, Hackman combines his polymathic abilities to create original, modern music rooted in elevated classicism.
Heralded by Seen and Heard International as “among the most daring and innovative modern experiments in avant-classical” music, Hackman’s catalog of groundbreaking orchestral fusions includes works like Brahms X Radiohead, The Resurrection Mixtape (Mahler X Notorious BIG X Tupac Shakur), and Beethoven X Coldplay. Written to introduce the symphony orchestra to its future audience, he has conducted his symphonic fusions to sold-out houses at nearly every major orchestra in America, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Oregon, and the Boston Pops.
Hackman serves as the conductor and curator of the BSO Fusion Series with the Baltimore Symphony, and, since 2010, Creative Director/Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony’s Uncharted Series, one of the most successful Gen-Z and Millennial-focused concert experiences in the country.
In 2024 he joined the writing team for the 2024 Academy Awards, the Democratic National Convention, and Jimmy Carter’s 100th Birthday Celebration, and collaborated with Charlie Puth, The War and Treaty, and Rickey Minor to arrange the In Memoriam segment during the 2024 Emmys. 2024 also saw the American premiere of two of Hackman’s newest orchestral fusions: Beethoven X Beyoncé and Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin X Queen). Hackman is currently collaborating with Moses Sumney on both an album and film project, while also scoring two feature films and developing several Broadway titles.
He launched his original music project THE BRINK in 2023, a four-part, 300-minute work incorporating wide-ranging elements from lyric opera and art song cycles to hip-hop and electronica. He scored the immersive and experiential work for a hybrid ensemble with Hackman conducting, playing, and singing.
Hackman collaborates often with pop superstars like Steve Lacy, most recently reimagining and conducting Lacy’s repertoire for full orchestra in his tour-culminating show at Los Angeles’s Greek Theatre, streamed live on Amazon. In 2021, he joined Doja Cat’s performances at the VMAs, Billboard Music Awards, and iHeart Radio Music Awards.
Hackman joined Andrew Bird live on the PBS show Articulate and is a frequent collaborator with violinist Joshua Bell. Other collaborators include Hilary Hahn, Dave Koz, The Beach Boys, Michael Bolton, Aoife O’Donovan, Storm Large, Carly Rae Jepsen, and the choral ensembles Voces 8, Chanticleer, The Tallis Scholars, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. In addition, he has partnered with the group Time for Three for nearly a decade, first as music director, producing two of their albums, and penning over fifty arrangements and compositions. Hackman is a frequent contributor to From the Top, and in 2023 taught his first course on reimagining classical music at the Juilliard School.
He is active on Instagram under @stevehackmanmusic.
About Chicago Philharmonic
The Chicago Philharmonic is re-imagining the orchestra concert experience through culturally diverse, genre-bending programs breaking barriers of exclusion in orchestral music. With nearly 200 musician members, diverse and trailblazing leadership, and a deeply collaborative artistic model, we are one of the most versatile, innovative, and ambitious orchestras in the country.
The Chicago Philharmonic presents 30+ concerts annually and year-round, featuring diverse musicians and drawing new-to-the-symphony audiences. Our 2025-2026 partners include Artist in Residence Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Disney Concerts, Chicago composers Damien Geter and Stacy Garrop, Marta Aznavoorian, Sleeping At Last, Cedille Records, The Joffrey Ballet, The Auditorium, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, and Ravinia Festival.
The Chicago Philharmonic has been awarded “Programming of the Year” by the Illinois Council of Orchestras for our 2023-2024 Season. This honor celebrates our bold, genre-defying performances, including collaborations with three-time Grammy-winning bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, Grammy-winning spoken word phenoms Tank and the Bangas, local artists including the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and Cuerdas Clasicas, our current Artist in Residence Njioma Grevious, our inaugural Chinese New Year Celebration, and more.
The Chicago Philharmonic Society was created by Lyric Opera principal musicians in 1989. Today, we are a crucial part of Chicago’s music ecosystem and an incubator of talent, creating thousands of jobs for 425 musicians annually and making Chicago a viable home for talented freelance musicians. As Executive Director, Crain’s Business 40 Under 40 awardee and APAP "Spark of Change" winner Terell Johnson has led the orchestra as a force for inclusion with a series of increasingly high-profile events, including the 2024 Lollapalooza debut as the first professional orchestra to perform at the festival to a global audience of 100,000+ live and on Hulu.
Our audiences are 200,000+ strong, and our community engagement programs reach 6,000 students and participants annually. The Chicago Philharmonic proudly collaborates with the greatest artists of our time, in every genre. Past collaborations have included English National Ballet, Laufey, Nas, Lindsey Stirling, Justin Hurwitz, Kishi Bashi, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Joshua Bell, Tank and the Bangas, William Basinski, the American Ballet Theatre, Lollapalooza Festival, Ryan Speedo Green, and more.