Described as an "energetic" conductor who leads with "clear authority and enthusiasm" by the New York Times after his Carnegie Hall debut, Indian-American conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl is currently an Assistant Conductor with the Orchestre National de France and will additionally begin his post as the Assistant Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C) this fall. Mr. Bahl is the proud recipient both the 2011 Sir Georg Solti Career Assistance Award and the 2009 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship. The later, prestigious award enabled him to spend time in Leipzig, Germany working privately with Maestros Kurt Masur, Riccardo Chailly, and the Gewandhaus Orchestra as the city of Leipzig celebrated the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth.

Recently, Mr. Bahl once again caught the attention of the NY Times while conducting at the Park Avenue Armory during the Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar: "By Saturday the orchestra had become as fine a Mendelssohn vehicle as any young conductor could want… One who did seem to inspire it was Ankush Kumar Bahl, in the finale of the "Reformation" Symphony. Mr. Bahl was also one of the few who, in the earlier sessions, took the lead in rehearsing the orchestra in detail rather than simply waiting for Mr. Masur to interrupt and take matters into his own hands… the "Reformation" Symphony was a great success."

Mr. Bahl is based in New York City where he regularly works with the conservatories, regional orchestras and professional orchestras in the area in addition to his guest appearances abroad. Recent seasons have included his debuts with the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony. This coming season will include his debut with the National Opera Orchestra of Nancy. Formerly the Music Director of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, Mr. Bahl has also worked as an Assistant Conductor with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Youth Symphony. In addition to regularly assisting Maestro Masur at the Orchestre National de France, Bahl has also been fortunate to do so at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bahl received a double degree in music and rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and completed his master's degree in orchestral conducting at the Manhattan School of Music with teachers Zdenek Macal, George Manahan and David Gilbert. Mr. Bahl's primary conducting teachers have also included Kurt Masur, Kenneth Kiesler, Alasdair Neale, and David Milnes. Bahl has participated in master classes or workshops with Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach, Kurt Masur, David Zinman, David Robertson, James Conlon, Sergiu Comissiona, Gunther Schuller, Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, Jorma Panula and Michael Stern.

Mr. Bahl currently spends his summers in Vermont as a frequent guest conductor of the Kinhaven Music School in addition to other summer festivals in the US and abroad. For inquiries and additional information about Mr. Bahl, please visit www.boleroartists.com/akb.

May 2011