Conductor

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.