Symphony NB is New Brunswick’s professional orchestra.

Established in 1983, Symphony NB operates the province's only full-scale, full-season professional orchestra. Under the direction of Music Director Mélanie Léonard since 2021, Symphony NB has proven itself to be better than ever, scaling new heights of musical excellence. In addition to a broad range of outreach initiatives, it presents two series of concert tours annually. The Signature Series comprises six programs featuring the full orchestra, while the Virtuoso Series consists of seven concert tours in association with three of the province’s leading professional chamber music ensembles: the Saint John String Quartet, the wind quintet Ventus Machina, and Résonance New Music.

Through its versatile programming, Symphony NB continues to demonstrate how the work of symphonic musicians strengthens communities in an increasingly diverse New Brunswick.

Meet our Core Musicians

  • Danielle Sametz

    Principal Violin
    Concertmaster

  • Nadia Francavilla

    Principal Second Violin Miles and Eunice Kierstead Memorial Chair

  • Andrew Reed Miller

    Principal Bass

  • Joël Cormier

    Principal Timpani
    Philip W. Oland Memorial Chair

  • Chris Yoon

    Principal Cello
    BMO Financial Group Endowed Chair

  • Auditions TBA

    Principal Viola
    The Dr. Mary Pedersen Endowed Chair

Additional Endowed Chairs

Second Chair First Violin
Dr Tom Condon Memorial Chair

Second Chair Second Violin
Li-Hong Xu Memorial Chair

Section Viola
Reid & Jaqueline Parker Endowed Chair

Second Chair Cello
The Tom & Lisa Gribbons Endowed Chair

Section Cello
The Marion Isabel Pedersen & Sister Marie Estelle Memorial Chair

Principal Trumpet
Wallace, Norma and John MacMurray Memorial Chair

Second Trumpet
The Saint Mary’s Band and Bruce Holder Jr. Memorial Chair

Principal Timpani
Philip W. Oland Memorial Chair

Principal Flute
The Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Chair

Principal Oboe
Mary E. Pedersen MD, Prof Corp Endowed Chair

Principal Clarinet
In Honour of Suzanne Farrer Irving

Principal Bassoon
Pannell Family Endowed Chair

About Musical Director
Mélanie Léonard

Born in Montreal, Mélanie Léonard was most recently the music director of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra. She has also been resident conductor and associate conductor of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

She was invited to conduct at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and several Canadian orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Edmonton, Regina, Calgary and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras and Symphony Nova Scotia.

Maestra Léonard has recorded soundtracks for Aura at Montréal’s Notre-Dame Basilica; Land of Fantasy, a Cirque du Soleil show presented in Hangzhou, China; and Paradise City, an immersive multimedia universe in South Korea.

Mélanie Léonard was the first woman to complete a doctorate in orchestral conducting at the University of Montreal. In 2012, she received the Jean-Marie Baudet Prize in orchestral conducting awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts.