Music Director Dina Gilbert is a Canadian conductor passionate about communicating with audiences of all ages to broaden their appreciation of orchestral music through innovative collaborations. This commitment, along with her extensive knowledge of the orchestra repertoire, has brought her to conduct orchestras across Canada as well as in France, Spain, the United States, Colombia and Japan. She has received critical acclaim for her energic presence on the podium, her versatility, and her audacious programming.
In addition to conducting the Kamloops Symphony, highlights of the 2023-2024 season include return invitations with the Toronto Symphony, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, as well as debuts with the Walla Walla Symphony and the Kingston Symphony. As the Principal Conductor of the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Dina will perform Prokofiev’s Cinderella, as well as works of Lili Boulanger, Clara Schumann, Louise Farrenc and Kaija Saariaho in the ballet premiere of La Dame aux Camélias by choreographer Peter Quanz.
Her innate curiosity towards non-classical musical genres and her willingness to democratize classical music has brought her to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre national de Lyon in several Hip Hop Symphonic programs featuring renowned Hip hop artists I AM, MC Solaar, Youssoupha and Bigflo & Oli. Dina is also renowned for her expertise in conducting multi-disciplinary projects such as film concert performances (The Red Violin, The Artist, E.T. the Extraterrestrial).
As the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Arkea, a Montreal-based chamber orchestra, Dina has premiered over thirty works from emerging Canadian composers and has reached thousands of children with her interactive and participative Conducting 101 workshops. From 2013 to 2016, Dina Gilbert was the assistant conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal and Maestro Kent Nagano, also assisting notable guest conductors including Zubin Mehta and Sir Roger Norrington. In April 2016, she received great acclaim for stepping in to replace Maestro Alain Altinoglu with the OSM in a program showcasing Gustav Holst's The Planets.
Featured in the recent documentary “Femmes symphoniques”, Dina Gilbert earned her doctorate from the Université de Montréal and polished her skills in masterclasses with Kenneth Kiesler, Pinchas Zukerman, Neeme Järvi and the musicians from the Kritische Orchester in Berlin. Awarded the Opus Prize of "Découverte de l'année" in 2017, Dina Gilbert was also named as one of the “50 personnalités créant l’extraordinaire au Québec” in 2018 by the Urbania Magazine.