Julian Pellicano

Music Director and Conductor

The Board of the Okanagan Symphony Society is delighted to announce the appointment of Julian Pellicano to the position of music director and conductor, following a rigorous, year-long audition process. He brings a wealth of experience and visionary approach to the role.

“It is truly an honour to be appointed as the next music director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra,” says Julian. “Although my relationship with the musicians is very new, I experienced an electric vibrancy in their playing and wonderful positivity in their approach to music making. Our collegial rapport was established quickly and while I feel a great responsibility in this new role to help shape the future of the OSO, I approach it with excitement and enthusiasm among these fine musicians. The staff and board of the OSO are a passionate and enthusiastic group who I have already enjoyed working with during my time with the OSO, and most of all I look forward to the opportunity to develop my personal and musical connection to the OSO’s dedicated audience, being a welcoming presence for new audience members and getting to know the wider community in the Okanagan Valley.”

Ultimately rising to the top of a list of 30 candidates, with a short list of four exceptional finalists auditioning over the 2024/2025 season, Julian Pellicano becomes just the sixth music director in the OSO’s 65-year history.

Known for his versatility across a broad spectrum of genres, dynamic interpretations and meticulous technique, American-Canadian conductor Julian Pellicano will retain his positions as conductor on the staff of the National Ballet of Canada and music director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, in addition to his new appointment with the OSO. Bringing an incisive musicality and collaborative spirit to every performance, he has built a wide-ranging international career leading the Winnipeg Free Press to proclaim that “his versatility is truly astonishing.”

Associate conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2024, Julian conducted hundreds of performances on all of the orchestra’s various series, contributed to the development of the orchestra’s programming and established himself in the community as an ambassador for the WSO. As a guest he has conducted orchestras and ballet companies in North America and abroad including the Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Hong Kong Ballet, the Orquestra de Valencia, the Calgary Philharmonic, Orlando Ballet, Edmonton Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Vermont Symphony among others.

Passionate about the intersection of music and dance, he has conducted numerous classical and contemporary ballet productions, performing the works of internationally renowned choreographers Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Angelin Prelocaj, James Kudelka, Twyla Tharp, Frederick Ashton, Mauricio Wainrot, Rudi Van Dantzig, Lila York, Jorden Morris and Septime Webre.

Highly experienced with live-to-film performances, Mr. Pellicano’s film project credits encompass more than 35 titles including Miloš Forman’s award-winning film Amadeus, many legendary films scored by John Williams, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with its original 1927 score, as well as recent blockbusters, and classic films of the “Golden Age” of Hollywood.

Julian Pellicano studied conducting at the Yale School of Music with Shinik Hahm and during that time also trained in masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Peter Eötvös, Zsolt Nagy, Martyn Brabbins, Carl St.Clair, L’Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. At Yale he was a recipient of the Presser Music Award, awarded prizes from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and Yale’s Phillip F. Nelson Prize for Musical Entrepreneurship.

His career grew out of unconventional beginnings, starting as a primarily self-taught percussionist, timpanist, drummer and accordionist, performing in a wide variety of styles, genres, bands and ensembles. He studied percussion at the Peabody Conservatory, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Yale School of Music where he was a member of the critically acclaimed Yale Percussion Group. As a percussionist, he has performed in concert halls and festivals in North America, Europe and Asia. He also holds a degree in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University.

Get to know a little bit about our new music director, away from the music hall, with his “Ten Cool Things about Julian Pellicano” profile.