Adrian Symphony Orchestra Music Director
Bruce Kiesling, Music Director/Principal Conductor
Bruce Kiesling is a nationally recognized conductor and music educator with a career that spans classical, pops, film music, and musical theater. He has led performances at many of the nation's most iconic venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and SPAC. His current appointments include Music Director of the Adrian Symphony (MI) and the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra (CA).
Equally at home in diverse musical styles, Bruce has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and numerous other orchestras nationwide, collaborating with artists from Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, and Juanes to leading classical soloists such as Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Tai Murray, and David Kim. He has also prepared orchestras for renowned conductors including Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, and David Robertson, and created original orchestrations for Journey's Hollywood Bowl appearance.
A champion of underrepresented voices, Bruce released the first-ever recording of Florence Price's orchestral Suite of Dances and (here with the Adrian Symphony) the world-premiere reconstruction of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. His passion for education is equally strong: he served for five years as a conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic's YOLA program, and currently leads the University Orchestra and Opera at UC Santa Cruz, in addition to frequent work with youth and festival orchestras nationwide.
Bruce's love of film music regularly shapes his programming, with complete live performances of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, E.T., Home Alone, and Elf, among others. His background in musical theater includes dozens of productions, notably serving as music director for Darren Criss's A Very Potter Sequel (an iTunes Top 10 hit) and for Reprise Theater's They're Playing Our Song starring Jason Alexander and Stephanie J. Block.
Recent guest appearances include the San Francisco Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, and multiple seasons at Tanglewood with the Young Artists Orchestra. This season, Bruce returns to the Hunstville Symphony and will conduct the Ann Arbor Symphony and the Palm Springs Symphony.
Based in Los Angeles, Bruce balances his busy schedule with passions for skiing, cinema, and exploring cultural life on both coasts. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Miami, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.