Biography
Sought after for her insightful interpretations and dynamic presence, New Zealand-born Gemma New is the newly appointed Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She also holds the titles of Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and was previously the Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for 9 wonderful seasons. Hailed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “a rising star in the musical firmament”, New is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir George Solti Conducting Award.
The 2023/24 season marked Gemma New’s ninth and final season as Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and her fourth season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. 2022 marks New’s inaugural season as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, where she leads the 2022 Winter Festival with Hilary Hahn and Paul Lewis, Mozart Requiem with Voices New Zealand, and contemporary works by New Zealand composers John Psathas, John Rimmer, Tabea Squire and Anthony Ritchie in the orchestra’s 75th anniversary season.
New’s 2022/23 season sees her guest conducting the Toronto Symphony, Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony in Australia. Increasingly in demand in Europe, she leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Berner Symphonieorchester, Gävle Symphony, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestra della Toscana, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg in the final concert of Mozartwoche 2023. In June 2023, she leads Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s production of Susannah.
Gemma regularly appears with top orchestras in North America and Europe, having conducted the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, WDR Sinfonieorchester, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Ile de France and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
New’s work as Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic has been committed to deepening the artistic level of the orchestra and expanding its reach into the community. In May 2017, New launched the HPO’s first “Intimate & Immersive” concert series, creating a closer-to-the-music atmosphere by combining treasures of the orchestra canon and contemporary music, electronic indie music, lighting and visual art installations, and this has become a popular series that champions the music of leading Ontario composers. New also implemented a Family Series in her first year as Music Director and started schools concerts shortly after. She has regularly welcomed local students to sit onstage during rehearsals and encouraged a close relationship with the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra who play side-by-side with the HPO annually. Her programs present wide-ranging repertoire including works by core masters such as Beethoven and Mahler, and extending through today’s most active composers from Canada and New Zealand, such as Abigail Richardson-Schulte, Zosha di Castri, José Evangelista, Salina Fisher and Kevin Lau.
New served for four seasons as Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where she was Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. In her final season, she led the 2019/20 season-opening concerts of the St. Louis Symphony and conducted a concert broadcast live with Chris Thile on the nationally syndicated variety show Live From Here.
A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New served previously as Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. In 2018, she was a Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center where she led the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s In America. She is a former recipient of the David Karetsky Conducting Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival and an Ansbacher Fellowship, in which she was selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic to observe rehearsals and concerts at the Salzburg Festival. As a Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Fellow, she studied Mendelssohn’s music with Kurt Masur in Leipzig and led the Leipziger Symphonieorchester. Prior to receiving the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, she was awarded Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Committed to new music, New made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 on works by John Adams and Andrew Norman. In 2010, she founded the Lunar Ensemble, a nine-member contemporary music ensemble that premiered 30 works over six seasons. New has conducted works by Thomas Adès, Anna Clyne, Steve Mackey, Aaron Jay Kernis and many others.
New holds a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where she studied with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. She graduated with honors from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance.
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