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B R Y A N N I E S A s s i s t a n t C o n d u c t o r Bryan Nies has been Assistant Conductor of Oakland East Bay Symphony since 2002. He also serves as Resident Conductor of Oakland Youth Orchestra, which he led on a tour of Australia and New Zealand during the orchestra's 40th season. With "superb musical direction," Bryan conducted sold-out performances of Bizet's Carmen with Festival Opera in 2007 to rave reviews that stated, "Nies is undeniably a talent to watch." In addition, he has been a cover conductor for the St. Louis Symphony, conducted performances with Opera Idaho (Barber of Seville), the Oakland Chamber Ensemble, and will return to Idaho this spring to conduct performances of Cosi fan Tutte. With Eugene Onegin, Bryan Nies made his Opera San Jose debut as principal conductor, after serving as assistant conductor for five company productions between 2003 and 2007: Don Pasquale, Die Zauberflote, The Crucible, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Werther. Pursuing an avid interest in all musical genres, Mr. Nies has also been an associate music 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 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 at 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. |
 The Assistant Conductor position is supported by the California Arts Council, a state agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.     |