Our Artistic Director

As Artistic Director of the Westmoreland Symphony, Cleveland’s BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, and Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic, Daniel Meyer has reinvigorated orchestras with his innovative programs, engaging presence, and keen musical intellect. Named Music Director of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Meyer took the helm of the historic summer music festival in July 2019.

In addition to working with world-renowned soloists such as Marc-André Hamelin, Sharon Isbin, Gil Shaham, Jeremy Denk, Daniil Trifonov, Midori, and Emanuel Ax, Mr. Meyer commissioned new works by Michael Torke, Vivian Fung, Richard Danielpour, and Zhou Tian. With a deep passion for connecting with audiences, Mr. Meyer continues to develop strong ties with the community through frequent radio and television appearances, newspaper interviews, music talks, appearances in local schools, and speaking from the concert stage. He continues to lead the WSO in live concerts from the Palace Theatre that have also been featured on WQED-FM with Jim Cunningham and Brian Sevjar.

In his role as Director of Orchestral Activities at Duquesne University, Mr. Meyer has recorded the concertos of Lynn Purse and regularly collaborates with pianist David Alan Wehr and bass-baritone Guenko Guechev. Meyer recorded the music of Hanson, Diamond, and Daugherty for the Bavarian Radio with the Bamberger Symphoniker, and his recent guest appearances include the Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Portland Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Württembergische Philharmonie, Staatsorchester Darmstadt, and the Nuremberg Symphony in Germany.

In his tenure as Music Director of the Asheville Symphony, Mr. Meyer created the Asheville Amadeus Festival, featuring sold-out weeks of film, lectures, community events, and concerts centered around the music of Mozart and pianist Emmanuel Ax in 2015 and violinist Midori in 2017. In recent seasons he has frequently conducted the Rochester Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as guest engagements with the Indianapolis, Columbus, Phoenix, Eugene, Alabama, and Knoxville Symphonies.

His critically-acclaimed European debut took place with the Staatstheater Stuttgart Orchestra and violinist Thomas Zehetmaier, and he returned to Germany soon after for concerts with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, and to Austria with the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna and the Wiener Jeunesse Orchestra. Mr. Meyer’s summer festival appearances have included the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, the Aspen and Grand Teton Music Festivals, the Chautauqua Festival, Brevard Music Center, and Lakeside Chautauqua.

Upon the invitation of Mariss Jansons, Mr. Meyer was named Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, where he served until 2009. A native of Cleveland, Mr. Meyer studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He composed and conducted works for ensembles at both schools, including a Stabat Mater for soprano, chorus, and orchestra.

At Boston University, Mr. Meyer received the Orchestral Conducting Honors Award and was awarded the prestigious Aspen Conducting Prize from David Zinman. He received an honorary doctorate from Edinboro University in 2016.