Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser

A passionate communicator, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser brings clarity and meaning to the concert hall, fostering deep connections between audiences and performers. He is concurrently Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education of the San Francisco Symphony, Barrett Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Artist-in-Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia, and Principal Youth Conductor and Artistic Partner of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. He served as assistant conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and associate conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser has performed with the Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall Link-Up Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Chicago Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, London Sinfonia, was cover conductor with the Washington National Opera in 2020, and was music director of the Kennedy Center Summer Music Institute in 2022 and 2023.    

In the 2023–24 season, Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser debuts with the New York Philharmonic and New Jersey Symphony in addition to making his debut at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in an all-Tchaikovsky program. Host of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s weekly radio show Centre Stage, he also serves on the Board of the Conductor’s Retreat at Medomak, headquartered in Michigan. He is the subject of a multi award-winning CBC documentary Disruptor Conductor, focusing on his efforts to extend the boundaries of the orchestral music world through concerts for neurodiverse, incarcerated, African diaspora, and LGBTQ2S+ populations.    

Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser earned a Bachelor of Music Performance and Education from the University of Calgary and a Master of Philosophy in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.