Renowned as a conductor of “uncommon emotional intensity” (Marie-Celine) and a “force at the podium” (Eugene Scene), American conductor Mélisse Brunet is a native of Paris, France with an active career on both sides of the Atlantic. In July 2022, she became the fifth Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic, and the first woman to hold the position. She is also in her sixth season as the Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.
Brunet is one of the five conductors featured in the documentary “Maestra” by the Director Maggie Contreras and produced by David Letterman and Melanie Miller (“Navalny”) – now available on Netflix. “Maestra” garnered 2nd place and the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary.
The 2025/26 season features Brunet’s Carnegie Hall debut in a program of new works leading the American Composers Orchestra. Other upcoming highlights include performances with the Phoenix Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Charlottesville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Canton Symphony. Recent engagements include those with the Nashville Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Wintergreen Music Festival, New Hampshire Music Festival, Carmel Symphony, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, the Eugene Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, and the Orchestre National Avignon-Provence (France).
As a dynamic advocate of contemporary music, Brunet has collaborated with composers such as Shawn Okpebholo, Brittany J Green, Mary D. Watkins, T.J. Cole, Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Shulamit Ran, and Jennifer Higdon, among others. She holds diplomas from the Paris Conservatory, the Université la Sorbonne, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctorate in conducting from the University of Michigan.