Leonard Weiss is an Australian conductor and educator. In 2021 he assisted the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and worked as Assistant Conductor for National Opera’s La Clemenza di Tito and The Vietnam Requiem for the Flowers of War.

Leonard recently returned from studying conducting with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he was the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 BSO-Peabody Fellow and received Peabody’s 2020 “Rising Star” award for his opera debut conducting Kaija Saariaho’s Émilie. He has since received the 2020 Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship and is an Ars Musica Australis Arts Fellow.

Previously based in Canberra, Leonard held a range of Music Director positions including with the National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Youth Orchestra. He remains Artistic Director of the Canberra Sinfonia, a semi-professional chamber orchestra which he co-founded in 2018. As an educator, Leonard was Course Coordinator for the ANU Open School of Music where he taught the year 11 & 12 Classical Music program. He directed a range of school ensembles across all ages, primarily at Canberra Grammar School, and he is the inaugural Active Patron of the Hume Youth Orchestra.

Leonard is passionate about showcasing contemporary works. He has been privileged to commission and premiere works by many Australian composers and to conduct Australian premieres by Philip Glass. Leonard’s prior accolades included 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia, and an ACT Finalist for 2016 Young Australian of the Year