Leonard Weiss

Leonard Weiss is an Australian conductor and educator. He is honoured to join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as their 2024 Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow. Leonard previously held the position of 2022 New Zealand Assistant Conductor in Residence, and before that, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 BSO-Peabody Fellow.

International highlights of Leonard’s 2023 season include being a member of the Tanglewood Conducting Seminar led by Andris Nelsons, and being chosen by Riccardo Muti for his Italian Opera Academy, an intensive two weeks rehearsing and performing Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera as part of the Spring Festival in Tokyo. After years of postponements, this year Leonard embarked on the Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship, which saw him travel throughout Europe and the USA for three months assisting and observing leading conductors, including observing three weeks of rehearsals at the Salzburg Festival after being selected by musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Closer to home, 2023 saw Leonard return to National Opera to conduct Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore, and he will return to the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to close their season with Celebrate Christmas performances. Throughout this season Leonard will work as Assistant Conductor for the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, as well as conducting all Australian symphony orchestras and Orchestra Victoria as part of the 2023-24 Australian Conducting Academy, where his mentors include Mark Wigglesworth, Asher Fisch, Eivind Aadland and Benjamin Northey. Leonard is a proud graduate of prior Australian Conducting Academies with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and mentor Johannes Fritzsch in 2022, 2019 and 2018.

Last season Leonard was based in Auckland, where he developed a strong relationship with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and was mentored by their Music Director Giordano Bellincampi. In New Zealand Leonard conducted over 20 concerts and worked closely with all major orchestras and New Zealand Opera. Highlights as assistant conductor include Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Macbeth, and Requiem; and a mid-year concerto festival with Hilary Hahn and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the baton of their Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New.

Also during this past season Leonard conducted Così fan tutte with National Opera, and a mainstage concert with The Sydney Youth Orchestra as part of his inaugural NSW Orchestral Conducting (Early Career) Fellowship. Leonard studied conducting with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where he was acclaimed as Peabody’s “rising star”. There he made his opera debut conducting Kaija Saariaho’s Émilie and conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in a masterclass with Gianandrea Noseda.

Some of Leonard’s recent awards include the 2021 NSW Orchestral Conducting (Early Career) Fellowship, an American Austrian Foundation Faber Conductor Fellowship, an American Australian Association Arts Fund Grant, an Australia Council Career Development Grant, and an Ars Musica Australis Arts Fellowship. As an educator he taught at the Australian National University and at Canberra Grammar School.

"A masterful performance under the direction of Leonard Weiss... nuanced, expressive and subtle [conducting style], there is no mistaking what he asks of the orchestra."
CityNews, 25 July 2021

Weiss had the orchestra sounding the best I had heard... they responded perfectly to even the subtlest of gestures. There was gorgeous balance between sections and superbly controlled expression throughout.
CityNews, 4 August 2019

Upcoming Performances

National Opera: Suor Angelica
Thursday 7 & Sunday 10 March 2024, Albert Hall, Canberra
More information & Tickets

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Ears Wide Open
6:30pm Monday 3 June 2024, Melbourne Recital Centre
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8
More information & Tickets

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Metropolis
8:30pm Saturday 3 August 2024, Iwaki Auditorium, Melbourne
ABBOTT Hidden Thoughts II, soloist Lotte Betts-Dean
More information & Tickets

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: A Symphonic Christmas
10:30am & 12:30pm Saturday 14 December 2024, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
More information & Tickets

Celebrated as the "ubiquitous Mr Music" (CityNews, July 2019) Leonard was the Musical Director and Conductor of the National Capital Orchestra (2015 - 2019), the Canberra Youth Orchestra (2015 - 2019), the Australian National University Choral Society (2015 - 2019) and the Canberra Qwire (2014 - 2018). Leonard is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Canberra Sinfonia, a semi-professional chamber orchestra inaugurated in 2018, and has conducted one concert each year with the Musica da Camera String Orchestra since 2012. He recently made his opera debut conducting Kaija Saariaho's Émilie.

For his services to music in the National Capital, Leonard was awarded as the 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia, an ACT Finalist for 2016 Young Australian of the Year, and in the same year received a Canberra Critics' Circle Award for Music.

Leonard conducted the Band of the Royal Military College in the Armistice 100 celebrations held by the UK High Commission in November 2018. He was Assistant Conductor for the World Premiere of The Vietnam Requiem in 2021 and The Diggers' Requiem in October 2018, commemorating the centenary of armistice. Leonard was the Musical Director for Dramatic Productions' acclaimed season of Sweeney Todd in late 2017. Previous conducting positions include Assistant Conductor of the Maruki Community Orchestra (2012 - 2018) and Co-founder and Conductor of Echo Voices Community Choir (2012 - 2015). Leonard was the Course Coordinator and teacher for the ANU Open School of Music (2016 - 2019) as well as teaching and conducting multiple ensembles at Canberra Grammar School (2011 - 2019).

In a career that already includes over 200 major works, highlights include conducting performances with jazz legend James Morrison AM, a cappella icons The Idea of North, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Dale Barltrop, Kiwi star Nadia Reid, original orchestrations with Lucy Sugerman, harpist Alice Giles AM, string powerhouse Dimity Hall and Julian Smiles, and Grammy Award quadruple-nominee cellist Dave Eggar. Leonard has shared the stage with some of Australia's most highly acclaimed performers including conducting pianists Dr. Edward and Dr. Stephanie Neeman, guitarists Matt Withers and Callum Henshaw, hornist Rob Gladstones, and noted vocalists including sopranos Louise Page OAM, Susannah Lawergren and Penelope Mills, countertenor Tobias Cole, tenor Paul McMahon, baritones Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Christopher Hillier, David Greco and Jeremy Tatchell.

Leonard is passionate about showcasing contemporary works. He has conducted World and Australian premieres by Philip Glass, Christopher Gordon, Jessica Wells, Bree van Reyk, Sally Greenaway, Michael Dooley, Chloe Sinclair and Dante Clavijo; as well as significant Canberra/regional premieres by Carl Vine AO, Graham Koehne AO, Matthew Hindson AM and Natalie Williams. Additional Australian Premieres have included works by Sibelius and Respighi.

On top of his conducting portfolio, Leonard is a noted composer, performer, and was a music reviewer for The Canberra Times. He was often requested as a harpist for government functions including those for the Prime Minister, and has toured as a carillonist by invitation throughout Belgium, Germany, Denmark and the USA.