Yaniv Dinur, Conductor & Pianist

Winner of the 2019 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Fellow Award, Yaniv Dinur is the Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. He is lauded for his insightful interpretations and unique ability to connect with concertgoers of all ages and backgrounds, from season subscribers to symphony newcomers.

Dinur conducts more than 50 concerts per season with the Milwaukee Symphony and was named by the Milwaukee Business Journal as one of the city’s most impressive young leaders currently making a positive difference in Milwaukee. In New Bedford, he has brought star soloists such as Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Karen Gomyo and Vadim Gluzman to play with the orchestra. Under his leadership, the New Bedford Symphony has been nationally recognized for its bold, engaging programming and artistic quality, leading to the League of American Orchestras selecting the orchestra to perform at the 2021 League Conference.

Dinur’s recent and upcoming guest conducting highlights include subscription debuts with the symphonies of San Diego, Edmonton, Tulsa, Sarasota, Fort Worth, and Orchestra Haydn in Italy. He made his conducting debut at the age of 19 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, which led to multiple return engagements. Since then, he has conducted orchestras around the world, including the Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Houston Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, New World Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Portugal Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Festival Orchestra/Bulgaria, State Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Torino Philharmonic, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

An accomplished pianist, Dinur made his concerto debut with the Milwaukee Symphony in 2019, playing and conducting Mozart’s D Minor Concerto. He received critical acclaim for his “fluid, beautifully executed piano passages” and “deeply musical playing” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). He recently performed Brahms' First Piano Concerto with the New Bedford Symphony.

Dinur is the winner of numerous awards, among them the 2017 and 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards, 2nd Prize at the 2009 Mata International Conducting Competition in Mexico, and the Yuri Ahronovitch 1st Prize in the 2005 Aviv Conducting Competition in Israel. He is also a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Zubin Mehta Scholarship Endowment. 

Born in Jerusalem, Dinur began studying the piano at the age of six with his aunt, Olga Shachar, and later with Prof. Alexander Tamir, Tatiana Alexanderov, Mark Dukelsky, and Edna Golandsky. He studied conducing in Israel with Dr. Evgeny Zirlin and Prof. Mendi Rodan, and holds a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was a student of Prof. Kenneth Kiesler.