MÉLISSE BRUNET

“I am humbled and honored to accept the position of Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic. From the first rehearsal for the May (2022) concert until the performance, I felt an immediate connection between the orchestra and myself. How everything clicked and aligned was fortuitous, and so incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to work with the musicians and staff of the Lexington Philharmonic to share our passion for music to make a positive difference in our community.”

- Mélisse Brunet

French conductor Mélisse Brunet, from Hispanic and Italian descent, is currently living in Philadelphia, PA. She is quickly gaining attention on both sides of that Atlantic as a “skilled and polished conductor with panache” (ClevelandClassical.com). In July 2022, she became the fifth Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic, KY, and the first woman to hold the position, she is also in her third season as the Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, PA.

Brunet is one of the five conductors featured in the documentary Maestra by the Director Maggie Contreras and produced by David Letterman and Melanie Miller (“Navalny”), among others. The world premiere was on June 9 at the Tribeca Festival, in NYC, and won the 2nd place to the 2023 Tribeca Audience Award – Documentary.  It has received rave reviews in the press, including two articles in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Hollywood Reporter. During the 2023-2024 season, besides her two orchestras, she will be conducting the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Eugene Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the Orchestre d’Avignon (France), the University of Illinois orchestra, and promoting “Maestra” in various festivals.

A protégée of Pierre Boulez, Brunet was one of the 14 finalists selected over 200 applicants for the second edition of the International Competition La Maestra in 2022 in Paris. She was one of six conductors selected for the 2018 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (Nashville Symphony Orchestra), chosen for their “experience, talent, leadership potential, and commitment to a career in service to American orchestras.” In 2017 she was one of six conductors chosen for the international Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera, selected out of 161 applicants from 33 countries.

As a dynamic advocate of contemporary music, Brunet has collaborated with composers such as T.J. Cole, Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Shulamit Ran, James Barry, Mary D. Watkins, Loren Loiacono, and Jennifer Higdon, among others.

As an opera and music-theatre conductor, Brunet has conducted Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at the Power Center in Ann Arbor; four staged performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, and Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus in Boone, NC, and two staged performances of Verdi’s La Traviata at the Coralville Center for Performing Arts, IA.

As a Pops conductor, Brunet has been collaborating with Spot-On Entertainment and Scott Coulter for several years, as well as with many other entertainment companies. She has been programming Pops concerts for Holiday Pops, Independence Day, Halloween, Valentine, and some thematic programs (notably a John Williams tribute), performing indoors and outdoors for up to 6000 people. Finally, she also conducted orchestras during live movie projections (without click track).

Brunet is a respected educator in both France and the USA. Most recently, she served as the first woman Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Iowa-School of Music, where she conducted symphonic concerts, operas, and musical theater. In addition, she headed the orchestral conducting program at the Master’s and Doctoral levels, from which her students won major positions.

A native of Paris, Brunet began her studies on the cello, and learned to play the trumpet, French horn, and piano. She holds six diplomas from the Paris Conservatory (Analysis, Harmony, Counterpoint, Renaissance Counterpoint, Orchestration, and a Masters in Orchestral Conducting), a bachelor’s in music from the Université la Sorbonne, a Professional Studies diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctorate in conducting from the University of Michigan. Aside from Pierre Boulez, her mentors have included Kenneth Kiesler, Lawrence Loh, Carl Topilow, Zsolt Nagy, and Joel Smirnoff. Brunet also took part in international workshops where she studied with Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, David Stern, Peter Eötvös, and Jorge Mester. She has studied French, English, German, and Italian lyric diction, and speaks English, French, Italian, Chinese, and a rusty Spanish, Hebrew, and German.

Contact Mélisse - melissebrunet@lexphil.org

MEET Mélisse