Philadelphia Ballet to Welcome Seven Guest Conductors for 2026/27 Season

​Philadelphia Ballet has revealed the conductors who will lead the orchestra for performances throughout its 2026/27 season, bringing an international roster of musical talent to the Academy of Music.

Guest conductors joining Philadelphia Ballet this season include Ming Luke, conducting Dance at Great Velocity; Kenneth Hsieh and Harrison Hollingsworth conducting George Balanchine's The Nutcracker; Joel Bass and Felipe Tristán, sharing conducting duties for Cinderella; and Daniel Parkinson and Gavriel Heine, who will each conduct a week of Don Quixote.

MING LUKE — Dance at Great Velocity (October 15-18, 2026)

Ming Luke has conducted more than 250 performances with San Francisco Ballet and has guest conducted with Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and other leading dance companies. His conducting career spans ballet, opera and symphonic repertoire, with engagements including the Bolshoi Orchestra, Teatro Real in Madrid, Sadler's Wells, and orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He currently serves as Music Director of Merced Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and as Principal Guest Conductor of San Francisco Ballet. Luke holds a Master of Fine Arts in Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Piano Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University.

KENNETH HSIEH — George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (December 4-6, 2026)

Kenneth Hsieh is Music Director of the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and has conducted orchestras and ballet companies throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His guest conducting engagements include Boston Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. Hsieh has also conducted opera, film, orchestral and popular music, and has led performances with the Japan Century Orchestra and National Broadcasting Orchestra. He studied conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of British Columbia, Toho Gakuen School of Music and Senzoku College of Music.

HARRISON HOLLINGSWORTH  - George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (December 22, 2026)

Harrison Hollingsworth is a regular guest conductor with New York City Ballet, where he has led more than 70 performances since 2012 and serves as Conductor of Family Saturdays. This season he debuts with American Ballet Theatre, conducting Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. He is also Associate Conductor of the New York Choral Society and Music Director and Conductor at Redeemer Downtown. A graduate and current faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music, Hollingsworth has been Principal Bassoon of the New York City Ballet Orchestra since age 21 and has appeared as concerto soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and Symphony in C.

JOEL BASS — Cinderella (March 4-7, 2027)

Joel Bass is Assistant Conductor with The Australian Ballet, where he has conducted productions including The Dream, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Balanchine's Jewels and Ballet Imperial and contemporary works including Johan Inger's Carmen and Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces. He has conducted at the Sydney Opera House and toured internationally with The Australian Ballet to London, Tokyo and New York. Bass has also conducted world premieres including Christopher Wheeldon's Oscar, as well as new Australian works Flora and Seven Days. In 2026, he guest conducted West Australian Ballet in Dracula and the Australian premiere of Macbeth.

FELIPE TRISTÁN — Cinderella (March 11-14, 2027)

Mexican-American conductor Felipe Tristán is Principal Conductor of Ballet de Monterrey and Interim Music Director of the San Antonio Philharmonic. This season he debuts with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) at the Metropolitan Opera House. His repertoire includes Giselle, The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Balanchine's Serenade and the world premiere of former Royal Ballet principal Thiago Soares's Maximiliano & Carlota. He was assistant conductor of San Francisco Ballet's Carmen and associate conductor of Teatro Grattacielo Opera Company. He has conducted the Prague Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic and Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, and at Carnegie Hall and Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace. He has appeared at the Met Gala and in the Disney+ documentary In Vogue: The 90s, and been profiled in Forbes. He received Poland's Muzyczne Orły Award for a Hänssler Classic recording.

DANIEL PARKINSON — Don Quixote (April 29-May 2, 2027)

Daniel Parkinson is Associate Conductor of Northern Ballet, a position he has held since joining the company in 2016. His guest conducting engagements have included New York City Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Sir Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and Cape Town City Ballet. An active recording artist, Parkinson's studio work includes Grant Olding's Merlin, as well as chamber music projects An American in Paris and A Simple Gift. In 2024, he conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra for a dance-themed episode of Friday Night is Music Night, broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

GAVRIEL HEINE — Don Quixote (May 7-9, 2027)

Gavriel Heine is an American conductor whose career has included more than 1,000 performances with the Mariinsky Theatre, where he served as resident conductor for 15 years. His ballet repertoire there included Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Cinderella, La Bayadère, Raymonda and Romeo and Juliet. His guest conducting engagements have included the Opéra de Paris Ballet, The Royal Ballet and Opera, Teatro alla Scala Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet and Boston Ballet. He is Music Director of the Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota and has also conducted opera and orchestral repertoire internationally.