Courtney Lewis

Recently appointed as Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Courtney Lewis is also the Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Previous appointments have included Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, where he made his subscription debut in the 2011/12 season, and Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he made his debut in 2011.

From 2008 to 2014 Courtney Lewis was the Music Director of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra dedicated not only to giving concerts of contemporary and established repertoire at the highest level of musical and technical excellence, but also bringing live music into the least privileged parts of Boston with workshops in local schools. He made his major American orchestral debut in November 2008 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and has since appeared with the Atlanta Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Ulster Orchestra.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Maestro Lewis graduated from the University of Cambridge where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and clarinet with Dame Thea King. After completing a master’s degree with a focus on the late music of György Ligeti, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music, where his teachers included Sir Mark Elder and Clark Rundell.