• Source: Leonard Weiss

      • Leonard Weiss is an Australian conductor and educator. He is the 2024 Cybec Assistant Conductor with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Canberra Sinfonia. He is known as a champion of new Australian music, including conducting the 2022 world premiere of Dulcie Holland's Piano Concertino with pianist Ronan Apcar, and as well as for his regular work as an operatic conductor.


      Education


      Weiss graduated from the Australian National University in 2014, citing the influence of teachers Alice Giles and organist, Calvin Bowman. He worked part time as carillonist at the National Carillon. In 2019, Weiss commenced studies with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he made his opera debut conducting Kaija Saariaho's Emilie. He was also awarded as the Conservatory's Rising Star for 2020, and learned from Gianandrea Noseda in masterclasses with the National Symphony Orchestra.


      Career


      Prior to studying overseas, Weiss was Music Director of the National Capital Orchestra and conductor of the Canberra Youth Orchestra. He pioneered the CYO50 celebrations including concerts with The Idea of North and James Morrison, as well as performances with Lucy Sugerman and regular collaborations with the Canberra Choral Society. As conductor of the ANU Choral Society (SCUNA) he conducted the 2016 Intervarsity Choral Festival.
      Weiss was formerly the 2022 New Zealand Assistant Conductor in Residence, where he worked with all professional New Zealand orchestras and built a particularly strong relationship with the Auckland Philharmonia, where he returned for engagements in 2023. Before that he held the position of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 2020-21 BSO-Peabody Fellow.
      Weiss works with all major Australian Orchestras as part of the Australian Conducting Academy, and also worked with the Sydney Youth Orchestras as the inaugural recipient of the NSW Orchestral (Early Career) Fellowship. In August 2024, he conducted Katy Abott's work: Hidden Thoughts II: Return to Sender.


      Awards and honours


      A recipient of the 2020 Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship, in 2023 Weiss studied at the Tanglewood Music Center, the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, and the Salzburg Festival. He also studied with Riccardo Muti at the Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo. He received a Churchill Medallion on 21 March 2024 from the Governor-General of Australia.
      For services to music in the National Capital, Weiss was awarded as the 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia. He was an ACT Finalist for 2016 Young Australian of the Year.


      References

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