I look forward to promoting Symphony New Brunswick’s artistic excellence and contributing to the richness of its vision. I am driven by the idea of participating in our future by exploring new horizons while upholding the orchestra’s traditions.
Mélanie Léonard,
Music Director
Symphony New Brunswick is the province’s professional orchestra.
Serving Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John equally in both official languages, Symphony New Brunswick operates the province’s only professional symphony orchestra. The Symphony encompasses Camerata New Brunswick; its professional chamber orchestra, Saint John String Quartet, Ventus Machina; a professional woodwind quintet based in Dieppe, and Resonance; a new music ensemble in Saint John. SNB promotes the awareness and appreciation of symphonic music in an increasingly diverse New Brunswick through beautiful performances, educational programs, and community partnerships.
SNB is also a significant employer and economic driver, attracting people and companies to New Brunswick. The return on investment is strong: every dollar spent on art and culture generates more than five times the economic return activity.
Meet our Core Musicians
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Auditions taking place in 23/24
Principal Second Violin Miles and Eunice Kierstead Memorial Chair
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Danielle Sametz
Principal Violin Concertmaster
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Christopher Buckley
Principal Viola
The Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Chair -
Auditions taking place in 23/24
Principal Cello
BMO Financial Group Endowed Chair -
Christie Goodwin
Acting Principal Oboe
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Patrick Bolduc
Principal Bassoon
Pannell Family Endowed Chair -
Andrew Reed Miller
Principal Bass
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Joël Cormier
Principal Timpani
Philip W. Oland Memorial Chair
Additional Endowed Chairs
Second Chair First Violin
Dr Tom Condon Memorial Chair
Second Chair Second Violin
Li-Hong Xu Memorial Chair
Second Chair Cello
The Tom & Lisa Gribbons Endowed Chair
Section Cello
The Marion Isabel Pedersen & Sister Marie Estelle Memorial Chair
Section Viola
Reid & Jaqueline Parker Endowed Chair
Principal Trumpet
Wallace, Norma and John MacMurray Memorial Chair
Second Trumpet
The Saint Mary’s Band and Bruce Holder Jr. Memorial Chair
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.