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.
Leonard will celebrate several milestones in the 2026 season, with debuts at Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Munich Biennale, the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program shared with Music Director Andris Nelsons, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra’s Mendelssohn Academy. As a semi-finalist in the Concours de Genève, he will conduct the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre de Chambre de Genève.
In Australasia, he is excited to debut with the Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and return to the Melbourne and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras. Having received the 2025 Berlin Music Opera Award from The Opera Foundation for Young Australians, Leonard will work as Assistant Conductor at Deutsche Oper Berlin during their 25-26 season.
Leonard was a 2025 Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow, mentored by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2025 he won the Khachaturian International Competition, received the Special Prize for Best Interpretation of Khachaturian’s Symphony No. 2, and was immediately reinvited to the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. He also won Third Prize at the Toscanini Competition.
Leonard was Cybec Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2024 and 2025, and Assistant Conductor in Residence with the Auckland Philharmonia in 2022. He studied with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory and trained with Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea Noseda, and at the Salzburg Festival as part of his Churchill Fellowship.
