Paul Polivnick

Maestro Paul Polivnick is the Conductor Laureate of the New Hampshire  Music Festival. Music Director from 1992-2009 and 2016-2022, Paul enjoyed tremendous  critical and popular success. Due to his energetic and inspired leadership,  the Festival season expanded, the orchestra roster grew, the first commercial  recording, “Summer Lightning” was met with enthusiastic praise and ticket  sales went over the 100% mark.

A prominent figure on the world stage, Maestro Polivnick maintains an  active international conducting schedule. His appearances abroad have  included the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic  Orchestra, L’Orchestre National de Lille, L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris,  Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon,  Luxembourg Philharmonic, Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon, Vienna Radio  Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic  of Moscow, Seoul Philharmonic, Telemann Chamber Orchestra of Osaka,  China National Symphony Orchestra and many others. In addition, he has  conducted over forty orchestras in the United States.

Prior to his appointment in New Hampshire, Polivnick served as Music  Director of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestras, Music Director of the  Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Associate Principal Conductor of the  Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Earlier positions included Associate  Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Founder/Conductor of  the Los Angeles Radio Orchestra and Conductor of the Debut Orchestra of  the Young Musicians Foundation of Los Angeles. From 1988-93 Polivnick  was Principal Conductor of Harmonia Classica of Vienna, a composer’s  society devoted to the performance of new Austrian music.

Maestro Polivnick has led numerous productions of the Mozart, Rossini,  Verdi and Puccini operas and introduced several theatrical premiers,  including Conrad Sousa’s “Transformations.” “He is the author, librettist and composer of an opera titled “2001, A Space Opera.” Polivnick’s discography includes  commercial recordings for such labels as Naxos, Harmonia Mundi,  Nonesuch, Albany, Harmonia Classica, Christal, Hortus and Universal  Music France.

Paul began his musical studies at an early age with his father, Sidney  Polivnick. He went on to attend the Juilliard School, studying violin with Oscar Shumsky and conducting with Jean Morel. He spent his summers at  the Tanglewood Music Festival working with Leonard Bernstein, the Aspen  Music Festival with Walter Susskind and the Academia Chigiana in Siena,  Italy with Franco Ferrara.