Leonard Weiss Wins Inaugural Sydney Youth Orchestras Conductor Fellowship
Sydney Youth Orchestras in conjunction with Create NSW Sydney Youth Orchestras announces that the inaugural winner of the Conductor NSW Orchestral (Early Career) Fellowship is Mr Leonard Weiss.
Leonard Weiss is an Australian conductor and educator who recently assisted the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and was Assistant Conductor for National Opera’s La Clemenza di Tito. Leonard was the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 BSO-Peabody Fellow and studied conducting with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he was recognised as their “rising star” in 2020.
Leonard Leonard is the inaugural Active Patron of the Hume Youth Orchestra and is on the faculty at Hume Conservatorium, where he can work with passionate young musicians and leading musical mentors. to shape the experiences for this unique orchestra, operating across three cities in NSW, Australia.
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.
Career highlights include conducting performances with James Morrison AM, The Idea of North, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Alice Giles AM, string powerhouse Dimity Hall and Julian Smiles, and Grammy Award nominee cellist Dave Eggar. Leonard has shared the stage with highly acclaimed performers including conducting pianists Dr. Edward and Dr. Stephanie Neeman, guitarists Matt Withers and Callum Henshaw, sopranos Louise Page OAM, Susannah Lawergren and Penelope Mills, countertenor Tobias Cole, tenor Paul McMahon, baritones Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Christopher Hillier and David Greco.
SYO welcomes Mr Weiss to its illustrious legacy looks forward to him taking the podium to lead the best young musicians of NSW while benefitting from exposure to SYO’s artistic networks.
Through the support of Create NSW and SYO, Leonard Weiss, will receive $30,000 in funding; $20,000 in financial support from Create NSW, with $10,000 in-kind support in the form of mentoring and professional development from SYO. Leonard will undertake a broad-ranging professional development over 12 months (part-time) with the Sydney Youth Orchestras, including opportunities to participate in music intensives and camps with established conductors from across the sector and other top industry mentors.
