Biography

Gemma New is the artistic advisor and principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony and music director of Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She previously served as principal guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony, resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, associate conductor of the New Jersey Symphony, and was a Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2021 she received the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

This season, Ms. New made subscription debuts with the London Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, and Orchestre National de France. She also appeared with the Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, and Hannover State Orchestra. Last summer, she debuted at the BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and returned to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In previous seasons, she has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, WDR Symphony Cologne, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in July 2019 at Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University.

Now in her ninth and final year as music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic, Ms. New has deepened the artistic level of the orchestra and expanded its reach into the community. She launched the first Intimate and Immersive concert series and championed new music by Canadian and New Zealand composers such as Zosha di Castri, José Evangelista, Salina Fisher, and Kevin Lau.

Ms. New was a conducting fellow at both the Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Music Festival and studied conducting at the Peabody Institute with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar.