Ruth Reinhardt is quickly establishing herself as one of today’s most dynamic and nuanced young conductors, building a reputation for her musical intelligence, programmatic imagination, and elegant performances. In the 2019-20 season, Ms. Reinhardt makes her debuts with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Houston, San Antonio, and Grand Rapids, as well as the Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. In Europe, débuts include the Orchestre national d’Île de France in Paris, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, DSO-Berlin, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, Helsingborg Symphony, Tonkünstler Orchestra, and Gävle Symphony, among others. She will also return to the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she served as Assistant Conductor for two seasons under Jaap van Zweden, concluding at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Highlights of Ms. Reinhardt’s 2018-19 season included debuts with the symphony orchestras of Fort Worth, Omaha, Orlando, Portland, and Sarasota in the US; and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Grosses Orchester Graz, and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Europe. She also returned to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Impuls Festival in Germany, and Dallas Symphony for both a subscription week and their contemporary alternative ReMix series. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, she served as the assistant conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra.
Ruth Reinhardt received her master’s degree in conducting from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Alan Gilbert. Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, she began studying violin at an early age and sang in the children’s chorus of Saarländisches Staatstheater, Saarbrücken’s opera company. She attended Zurich’s University of the Arts (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) to study violin with Rudolf Koelman, and began conducting studies with Constantin Trinks, with additional training under Johannes Schlaefli. She has also participated in conducting master classes with, among others, Bernard Haitink, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop, and James Ross.
Prior to her appointment in Dallas, Reinhardt was a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2017-18), conducting fellow at the Seattle Symphony (2015-16) and Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Center (2015), and an associate conducting fellow of the Taki Concordia program (2015-17). During her time at Juilliard, she led the Juilliard Orchestra as well as concerts with New York City’s ÆON Ensemble, with whom she has led a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet.
A precocious talent, by age 17 she had already composed and conducted an opera, for and performed by the children and youths of her hometown. While studying in Zurich, she also conducted the premieres of two chamber operas for children: Die Kleine Meerjungfrau (The Little Mermaid) by Swiss composer Michal Muggli, and Wassilissa by German composer Dennis Bäsecke. Other opera productions she has conducted include Dvořák’s Rusalka and Weber’s Der Freischütz for the North Czech Opera Company, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at the Leipzig University of the Arts.