Page content
Australian conductor Leonard Weiss CF has quickly established himself as one of the most versatile and compelling conductors of his generation, acclaimed for electrifying performances of symphonic repertoire, opera and contemporary music. Prominent recent debuts include Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he was the first Australian to conduct in a subscription concert.
Leonard is elated to return for numerous programs with Australia’s leading orchestras in 2027, including the Melbourne, Adelaide, and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and to the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. He also returns to the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, having won First Prize in the 2025 Khachaturian International Competition, and the Special Prize for Best Interpretation of Khachaturian’s Symphony No.2.
Leonard was Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper Berlin during their 2025-2026 season, having received the 2025 Berlin Music Opera Award from The Opera Foundation for Young Australians. In Germany, he also debuted at the Munich Biennale and with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra’s Mendelssohn Academy. Returning to Australia in the second half of 2026, he was proud to debut with the Adelaide, Queensland, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, and at the UKARIA Centre.
As a 2025 Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow, Leonard conducted over a dozen concerts under the mentorship of Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Leonard also won Third Prize at the 2025 Toscanini Competition. As a semi-finalist in the prestigious 2026 Concours de Genève, he was invited to conduct the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, and Ensemble Contrechamps.
Leonard was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2024 & 2025 Cybec Assistant Conductor and the 2022 New Zealand Assistant Conductor in Residence with the Auckland Philharmonia. Leonard studied with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where he was named their “Rising Star” and was awarded the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Peabody Fellowship. He has also trained with Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Alan Gilbert, Gianandrea Noseda, as well as at the Salzburg Festival and Australian Conducting Academy.
A passionate advocate for living composers, Leonard has premiered significant new works across Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Among his distinctions, Leonard received the 2020 Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship, was a finalist for the 2016 Young Australian of the Year, and was named 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia.
