Robert Lehmann
Music Director
Now in his tenth year as Music Director, Robert Lehmann has continued
the legacy of his predecessors, Rolland Tapley and Max Hobart, and
preserved the Orchestra's reputation as an outstanding civic orchestra.
His penchant for creative programming, where relatively obscure works
share the spotlight with renowned classics, and his unique talent as a
teacher have elevated the NSPO to new heights of orchestral performance. Under his leadership, the NSPO's excellence has enthralled
its audiences who have enjoyed the subscription concerts and special
performances at the North Shore Music Theater and Boston's Bel Canto
Opera, among others.
Dr. Lehmann was born and raised in Mexico City, attended the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica, at sixteen became concertmaster of
the National Youth Orchestra, and a year later joined the Orquesta
Sinfonica Nacional professionally. Dr. Lehmann studied with Warren Van
Bronkhorst at the University of the Pacific, and with members of the
Cleveland Quartet at the Eastman School of Music. While at Eastman he
participated in the Cleveland Quartet Seminar and served as
concertmaster of the Eastman Philharmonia, in summer residence at the
Schlossfestspiele in Heidelberg, Germany. He received a doctorate in
Violin Performance from Boston University in 2008.
Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of String
Studies and Orchestral Activities at the University of Southern Maine
School of Music. In addition to his duties conducting the Southern
Maine Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra,
he is on the Artist Faculty in Violin, Viola and Chamber Music. Dr.
Lehmann is also Music Director of the highly acclaimed Portland Chamber
Orchestra and first violinist of the Meliora Quartet. In 2008, he was
invited to become the conductor of the White Mountain Bach Festival in
New Hampshire. He has also served as Music Director of the Mozart
Society Orchestra at Harvard University, the Greater Boston Youth
Symphonies Junior Repertory Orchestra, the Empire State Youth Repertory
Orchestra and the Rhode Island Youth Philharmonic. As a violinist, he
has performed with the Boston Philharmonic, the Eos Ensemble, Alea III,
Pro Arte Orchestra, the Portland Symphony and as concertmaster of the
PORTOpera. He has played with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, as well as
with the National Orchestral Institute and the National Repertory
Orchestras.
Dr. Lehmann lives in Scarborough, Maine with his wife Kimberly, a
frequent performer with the NSPO, and their two boys, Eric and Alex.