Marcelo Lehninger, conductor

Brazilian-born Marcelo Lehninger is increasingly recognized as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Appointed assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra by James Levine, Mr. Lehninger is the second Brazilian conductor to hold this position; the first was Eleazar de Carvalho, who shared the position with Leonard Bernstein.

Mr. Lehninger made his BSO debut in 2010 with the violinist Pinchas Zukerman as soloist and in 2011 he stepped in for Maestro Levine at short notice to conduct the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's Violin Concerto with Christian Testzlaff.

Also in 2011, with the BSO, he made an acclaimed debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and critic Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "He was terrific, conducting all three works with impressive technique, musical insight and youthful energy." Maestro Lehninger's next BSO appearances include a subscription night in the 2011/12 season with pianist Peter Serkin, his debut at Tanglewood in 2012 and a subscription week in the 2012/13 season.

Acclaimed by the Washington Post as "an alert, dynamic figure", he served as cover conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra's subscription concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and associate conductor of the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, in Brazil.

Mr. Lehninger was music advisor of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas for the 2007-08 season. Placido Domingo serves as artistic advisor for the ensemble, which is composed of 120 talented musicians from more than twenty countries throughout the Americas. In summer of 2008, Maestro Lehninger toured with YOA and pianist Nelson Freire in South America.

In 2001 he placed second in the First Eleazar de Carvalho National Conducting Competition in Rio de Janeiro, subsequently leading all of the top orchestras in Brazil as well as regular guest conducting in Argentina. In the United States, he led the Boston, Houston, National, New West, Hartford, Fairfax and Jacksonville symphony orchestras. In Canada, Mr. Lehninger made his debut in 2011 conducting the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

An alumnus of the National Conducting Institute, he made a highly praised debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2007 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and was invited to conduct the NSO again in the summer of 2008.

Chosen by Kurt Masur, Mr. Lehninger was awarded the First Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship sponsored by the American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation in 2008, spending one month as Maestro Masur's assistant with the Orchestre National de France, Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and the New York Philharmonic.

Maestro Lehninger participated in the 2009 Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark, leading the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Copenhagen's Koncerthuset and in the 2011 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, conducting the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Upcoming appearances include re-engagements with the Boston, New West and São Paulo State Symphony orchestras, Minas Gerais and Hamilton Philharmonic orchestras as well as his debut with the New Jersey and Elgin Symphony orchestras.

Before dedicating his career to conducting, Mr. Lehninger studied violin and piano. He holds a Master's degree from the Conductors Institute at New York's Bard College, where he studied conducting under Harold Farberman and composition with Laurence Wallach. In Brazil he studied with Roberto Tibiriçá, and he has also participated in master classes with Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Moche Atzmon and Andreás Weiss.

Citizen of Brazil and Germany, Marcelo Goulart Lehninger is the son of pianist Sônia Goulart and violinist Erich Lehninger. He lives with his wife Laura and daughter Sofia in Boston, MA.

For more information on Maestro Lehninger, please visit www.marcelolehninger.com.

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