Also a composer, Itkin is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, for Jonah (2001), a tone poem for narrator and orchestra, and Exodus, an oratorio which was premiered in April 2005 in Little Rock.
Itkin's previous positions include music director and principal conductor of the Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra near Chicago (1997-2000); music director of the Kingsport (Tennessee) Symphony (1992-1995); music director of the Birmingham Opera Theatre (1992-1995); and music director for the Lucius Woods Festival Concerts in Solon Springs, Wisconsin (1993-2000). From 1988 to 1993 he served as associate conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, during which time he was made Honorary Lt. Governor of the State of Alabama for outstanding service to the arts.
Itkin's first appearance of his tenure with the Las Vegas Philharmonic will be the annual July 4th concert.