BOB BERNHARDT, PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR

Bob Bernhardt has been a beloved figure in the artistic fabric of our city for a long time. Starting in 1981 as Assistant Conductor, then as Associate Conductor at the LO, then as Principal Guest Conductor of Kentucky Opera, and now in his 25th season as Principal Pops Conductor, he continues to bring his unique combination of easy style, infectious enthusiasm, and wonderful musicianship to the city and orchestra he loves.

Bernhardt is concurrently in his eighth season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony in Michigan, and Principal Pops Conductor and Music Director Emeritus of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, where he previously spent 19 seasons as Music Director, and is now in his 30th year with the company.

Previously, he was Music Director and conductor of the Amarillo Symphony and the Tucson Symphony, and Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rochester Philharmonic.

In the past decade, Bob has made his conducting debut with the Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, New Jersey Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony and Santa Barbara Symphony, all of which were rewarded with return engagements.

He continues a 15-year relationship with the Edmonton Symphony, conducting there several times each season, and as Festival Conductor for its Labor Day festival, Symphony Under the Sky. He made his debut with the Boston Pops in 1992 at the invitation of John Williams, and has been a frequent guest there ever since.

Recently, he returned to the podiums in St. Louis, Vail, Boston, Nashville, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Grand Rapids, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Santa Barbara, Portland (ME), Louisiana, and Rochester, and led performances by the Utah Symphony, Portland Symphony (OR), Calgary Philharmonic, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

His professional opera career began with the Birmingham Civic Opera in 1979, two years before he joined the Louisville Orchestra. He worked with Kentucky Opera for 18 consecutive seasons, and with his own company in Chattanooga, also for 18 seasons, where he conducted dozens of fully staged productions in a genre he adores.

Born in Rochester, New York, he holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California’s School of Music where he studied with Daniel Lewis. He is also a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he was captain of the soccer team, and an Academic All-American baseball player. (While not all the research is in, Bernhardt believes he is the only conductor in the history of music to be invited to spring training with the Kansas City Royals. After four days, they suggested to him a life in music.)

His children, Alex and Charlotte, live in the Seattle area. He and his wife, Nora, live in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.