Bryan Nies, Assistant Conductor
Bryan Nies has been the
Assistant Conductor of the Oakland East Bay Symphony since 2002. He also serves
as the Resident Conductor of Oakland Youth Orchestra, which he led on a tour of
Australia and New Zealand during the orchestra's 40th season. In addition to
his work with Festival Opera, as assistant conductor, he conducted the first
performance of the Oakland Chamber Ensemble, and was a former assistant
conductor with Opera San Jose. Pursuing an avid interest in all musical genres,
Mr. Nies has also been an associate musical director with American Musical
Theater of San Jose and Theatreworks, in Palo Alto.
During the summer
of 2002, Mr. Nies was honored with a Leonard Bernstein Fellowship to
participate as a conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he conducted
performances to rave reviews in the Boston Globe. In addition, he received
personal instruction with many leading professional conductors, including,
Michael Morgan, Roberto Abbado, Jeffery Tate, Hans Vonk, Rafael Fruhbeck de
Burgos, and Grant Llewellyn.
As one of the conducting class' youngest
graduates, Mr. Nies received a M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody
Conservatory where he studied under the tutelage of Gustav Meier and Markand
Thakar. He received a full assistantship in opera coaching and was the
assistant conductor of the Peabody Camerata, a contemporary ensemble. While at
Peabody, He was asked to be the Assistant Conductor of the National Chamber
Orchestra (Washington D.C.). Mr. Nies also initiated and conducted the
Children's Choir as part of the Handel Choir of Baltimore, where he was
Director of the Outreach Program.
A native of Chicago, IL, Mr. Nies
also holds a B.M. in Piano Performance and a B.A. in Psychology from
Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He has won numerous piano competitions
in the Chicago area including a Gramma Fisher Scholarship to study with the
American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. In addition, he has
performed with William Warfield for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Elmhurst
Symphony Orchestra, as their Assistant Conductor. Mr. Nies also served on the
staff of Northwestern University's Theater Department as vocal coach and piano
accompanist. |
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