Ruth Ochs

Dr. Ruth Ochs is a sought-after conductor, scholar, and educator based in central New Jersey. As the director of the Princeton University Sinfonia, a co-curricular campus orchestra, Dr. Ochs leads the ensemble in a wide variety of repertory, including regularly premiering new works by Princeton University undergraduate composers and featuring student soloists. She has also worked with the Princeton University Orchestra in many contexts, including leading its 2019 concert tour of Spain. With Princeton student musicians, she has music directed fully-staged performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe. Off the podium, her work in the classroom and introducing concert programs puts into action her strong belief that students, performers and audiences alike benefit from a closer understanding of the materials and makers of a musical composition.

Enthusiastic about nourishing and inspiring musicians of all ages and aspirations, Dr. Ochs shares her time with local musical initiatives. She is now in her twentieth season as conductor of the Westminster Community Orchestra. With this dedicated group of musicians, she has led successful family concerts, opera gala performances, and performances with youth soloists and ensembles from the Westminster Conservatory of Music. The orchestra’s annual holiday sing-along regularly raises donations for Mercer County food pantries. Through her leadership, the Westminster Community Orchestra continues to collaborate with students from the Westminster Choir College.

Dr. Ochs has been recognized for her outreach initiatives and work with students. In 2019, she received the Princeton University Pace Center for Civic Engagement’s Community Engagement Award, and she was voted an honorary member of Princeton University’s Class of 2023. She holds degrees in music, orchestral conducting, and music history, from Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Princeton University, respectively. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied musicology at Humboldt Universität in Berlin, Germany, and, as a student of the Polish language, she studied at the Uniwersytet Jagielloński in Kraków, Poland. She is currently Senior Lecturer in Princeton University’s Department of Music.