Conductor Leonard Weiss Selected for Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Fellowship

This year is shaping up as an exciting one for rising star conductor Leonard Weiss as he works towards his 2026 debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The MSO's Cybec Assistant Conductor, Leonard Weiss has been selected as a Conducting Fellow at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center. Situated in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, Tanglewood is the summer home and famed music and learning campus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Leonard is one of only two conducting fellows selected from applications around the world.

2025 is already a busy year for Leonard in Australia. Having just made his Sidney Myer Music Bowl debut conducting the MSO for its free summer concert, Journeys and Adventures, his formidable MSO schedule continues with a number of high-profile performances including Seasons at Hamer Hall, his Melbourne Recital Centre debut in November, and a number of regional and family events throughout the year. Leonard Will soon make his debut with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and return for engagements in Sydney and New Zealand.

In the northern summer, Leonard Will spend an unparalleled season at Tanglewood under the guidance of internationally acclaimed conductor Andris Nelsons who has held the position of Music Director at BSO since 2015 and more recently became Head of Conducting at Tanglewood. Other mentors in the program include Finnish conductors Dima Slobodeniouk and Esa-Pekka Salonen, American conductor and educator Thomas Wilkins, and Colombian/Austrian conductor and violinist Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

At Tanglewood Leonard Will lead a large amount of iconic classical music, mentored by foremost international conductors. He will make his debut as a Conducting Fellow on 7 July with the TMC Orchestra performing works by Smetana, and subsequently he will conduct major works by Prokofiev, Bartók and Ravel, including the opera L'Enfant et les sortilèges. Concurrently Leonard Will pioneer music for Vocal Fellows and chamber orchestra coached by Sir Harry Christophers and Dawn Upshaw, new works by the TMC Composition Fellows and the acclaimed TMC Silent Film Project.

Leonard Will conduct a main stage Boston Symphony Orchestra concert shared with Andris Nelsons as part of their 2026 subscription season.

Leonard says he is immensely looking forward to returning to Boston for this prestigious opportunity.

“I was fortunate to be a member of the Tanglewood Conducting Seminar in 2023 as part of my Churchill Fellowship. Tanglewood is a truly magical place and to have the invitation to return as a Conducting Fellow in 2025 is a dream come true. I am so excited to lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, to learn from Andris Nelsons and his team of exceptional International Artists,” says Weiss. “I'm extremely grateful and humbled by this selection, and I can't wait to share my expanded musical knowledge with the MSO and our community when I return.”

Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director from 1924 to 1949, founded the Tanglewood Music Center in 1940. His vision was to create a premier music academy where the rising generation of great musicians could access the resources of a great symphony orchestra, honing their skills under the mentorship of BSO musicians and other luminaries in the field. He himself taught the most gifted conductors of the past century, including Leonard Bernstein, a student at Tanglewood from 1940-42 who remained involved with the program nearly every summer for the rest of his life.

Leonard's career is fuelled by a passion for both classical and contemporary music. He champions the work of living composers and has treasured the opportunity to premiere new music in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. Prior to joining the MSO, Leonard was the 2022 New Zealand Assistant Conductor in Residence, where he worked closely with the Auckland Philharmonia and all major NZ orchestras. He studied with Marin Alsop and received the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's BSO-Peabody Fellowship. Leonard has participated in masterclasses with Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea Noseda, at the Salzburg Festival, and in the Australian Conducting Academy.

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