Nimrod David Pfeffer

Nimrod David Pfeffer (born November 14, 1984) is an Israeli-born conductor and pianist residing in New York City.

Nimrod David Pfeffer

Mr. Pfeffer serves as Assistant Conductor at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He made his conducting debut with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2014, sharing the podium with James Levine in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program Orchestra Workshop Concert at the DiMenna Center in New York. At the Met, he served as Assistant Chorus Master to Donald Palumbo, as well as Assistant Conductor in productions of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Guillaume Tell, L'Italiana in Algeri, Aida, Idomeneo, Eugene Onegin, Der Fliegende Holländer, Otello, Tannhäuser, Un Ballo in Maschera, Le Nozze di Figaro, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Die Zauberflöte, Adriana Lecouvreur, Don Giovanni, and La Bohème.[1][2]

In 2016 Mr. Pfeffer was named Music Director of the Lyric Opera Company of Guatemala, after conducting the company's inaugural production of Rigoletto. In 2017 he conducted there a new production of L'elisir d'amore, and in 2018 a new production of La Bohème.[3]

In June 2018 Mr. Pfeffer made his conducting debut with the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, in a semi-staged production of La Clemenza di Tito.[4] February 2018 Mr. Pfeffer made his conducting debut with the Israeli Opera, in a new production of Don Giovanni by Kasper Holten.[5] In 2018/19 Mr. Pfeffer will return to Israel to conduct Simon Boccanegra with the Israeli Opera, and to collaborate as conductor and pianist with the Ra'anana Symphonette Orchestra,[6] the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Camerata Jerusalem.[7]

Pfeffer is the Third Prize winner of the 2017 Maestro Solti International Conducting Competition in Hungary.[8] Following his success in the competition, he was invited to conduct the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc,[9] the Szeged Symphony Orchestra Hungary, the MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest, and the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.[10][11]

He has collaborated as conductor with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in the Gala concert of the Musical Olympus Festival at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg;[12][13] productions of the Lyric Opera of Guatemala with Verdi's Rigoletto and Donizetti's L’Elisir d’Amore in Guatemala City;[14] the Juilliard Lab Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall in New York;[15] and The Symphonic Orchestra of the State Capella of St. Petersburg.[16] In the 2016/17 season Mr. Pfeffer also collaborated as guest conductor with the Juilliard Orchestra and the Juilliard Dances Repertory, where he conducted Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, choreographed by Richard Alston.[17]

Mr. Pfeffer also enjoys a career as a pianist. He has given a live solo recital broadcast from the Russian Kremlin in 2007, performances of the music of Chopin on the stage of The Metropolitan Opera in American Ballet Theatre's production of The Lady of the Camellias in 2010,[18] his debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill recital Hall in 2008, and his solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, playing the World Premiere of Aharon Harlap's Second Piano Concerto, which resulted in a dedication to him of Mr. Harlap's Symphonic Dances for Piano and Orchestra in 2015.[19]

In 2015-2016 he performed with the Met Chamber Ensemble, conducted by James Levine, at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall,[20] and played Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto on a replica of a fortepiano from the period with the Clarion Orchestra, conducted by Steven Fox.[21] He has also performed recently as soloist at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Warsaw's Philharmonic Hall and Royal Lazienky Park, Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and Shanghai Concert Hall, as well as in concert halls in Israel, Russia, Poland, Austria, Malta, Jordan, China, Hong Kong, and the United States.[22]

Mr. Pfeffer is dedicated to promoting dialogue between Arabs and Jews in his native Israel. In 2009 he presented a concert in honor of peace at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall with Arab-Israeli pianist Bishara Haroni, benefiting the Jezreel Valley Music Center, a music school where Arabs and Jews study music together, which was in financial difficulties.[23] The performance helped to raise funds and bring media attention to the school. Mr. Pfeffer have received the Davis Projects for Peace Award for this initiative.[24]

Mr. Pfeffer has completed his master's degree in Orchestral Conducting as a student of Alan Gilbert at The Juilliard School, as a recipient of the Bruno Walter Scholarship. Upon graduation from Juilliard he was awarded the Charles Schiff Conducting Prize and the Norman Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant. He holds a master's degree and Professional Studies Diplomas in Piano Performance and in Orchestral Conducting from Mannes College of Music, and is a graduate of The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.[25] Among his teachers were Pnina Salzman, Victor Rosenbaum, Carl Schachter, Claude Frank, Byron Janis, Alan Gilbert, James Levine, and Richard Goode.[26]