Nathaniel
Efthimiou

Nathaniel Efthimiou
Nathaniel Efthimiou is the Assistant Conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School and an Assistant Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music. He is a three-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award and was a semi-finalist in the 2nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition. He was recently selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic to study at the Salzburg Festival as the AAF/Faber Young Conductor Fellow.
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Biography

Nathaniel Efthimiou

Nathaniel Efthimiou is an emerging American conductor recognized for his versatility and connection with audiences. He is currently the Assistant Conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School and an Assistant Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music. He is a three-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award and was recently selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic as a recipient of the AAF/Faber Young Conductor Fellowship (formerly the Karajan Fellowship) at the Salzburg Festival. He was a semi-finalist in the 2nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition 2023.

During his tenure at the Rhode Island Philharmonic, he has received critical acclaim for two last-minute appearances with the orchestra on subscription programs spanning the repertoire, including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3, the East Coast premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Haillí-Serenata, and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with Jon Kimura Parker. He has also led education programs serving thousands of young people across Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts. Nathaniel has conducted orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, as a quarter-finalist in the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition 2021, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Amarillo Symphony, musicians of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he maintains an active guest conducting schedule.

Nathaniel is equally comfortable in the opera pit and is the recipient of the 2023 Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency program with Opera Southwest (Albuquerque, NM), where he performed Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro. He has also worked on productions ranging from Debussy’s Pélleas et Mélisande, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. In October 2018, he led four performances of Tom Cipullo’s provocative operetta, After Life, at BU Opera Institute’s “Fringe Festival.”

As a passionate educator, he has worked with the New England Conservatory’s Summer Orchestra Institute, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and served on a selection committee for the Anthony Quinn Foundation’s student scholarships. He has been a guest conductor and lecturer with numerous colleges, including Boston University, where he presented a seminar on The Evolution from Student to Professional with Boston University’s doctoral conducting candidates. He also served as the Head of Instrumental Activities at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee.

As a former composer, Nathaniel is a passionate advocate for new music. He has brought new works to life with the Susan and Ford Schumann Center for Composition Studies at the Aspen Music Festival, the BU Opera Institute, and the Boston University Center for New Music. He studied composition with Joel Hoffman, David Ludwig, and David Davies, and his work has been featured in festivals such as the Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), “UPBEAT” (Croatia), and WSKG’s television program, Expressions (Binghamton, NY).

Nathaniel began studying piano, violin, and organ from an early age and later began studying composition. His path to conducting grew from his interdisciplinary approach to music and the Arts, which he still maintains today. He has served as associate concertmaster of the Southern Tier Symphony Orchestra (Olean, NY) and actively freelanced as a violinist in Memphis, TN. He received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts from the Greatbatch School of Music and his Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University. He has studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he was awarded the James Conlon Conductor Prize (2015), the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and Domaine Forget de Charlevoix. He has studied with Bramwell Tovey, Robert Spano, Larry Rachleff, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Cristian Măcelaru. Nathaniel is currently based in New England.

Press Quotes



Experience

Experience

Boston, MA

Assistant Professor

2021 - Present
Teach courses and directed studies in conducting.
East Providence, RI, USA

Assistant Conductor

2020 - Present
Cover all performances, conduct subscription weeks as assigned, present pre-concert talks, conduct annual Young People’s Concerts and Side-by-Side performances. Covered conductors including Robert Spano, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Nicholas McGegan, Jamie Laredo, and Bramwell Tovey.
Salzburg, Austria

AAF/Faber Young Conducting Fellow

2023 - 2023
The AAF/Faber Young Conductors Fellowship provides promising young conductors from the United States the opportunity to spend up to four weeks at the Salzburg Festival observing the world’s leading conductors and artists at work during rehearsals and performances.
Boston, Massachusetts

Guest Conductor

2023 - 2023
NEC Summer Orchestra Institute

Opera Southwest

2023 - 2023
Albuquerque, NM

The Solti Foundation U.S. Opera Residency

2023 - 2023
ROSSINI: L'occasione fa il ladro
Amarillo, TX

Guest Conductor

2021 - 2022
The Nutcracker 2021; "Celebrate America at HODGETOWN" 2022

Expertise

Professional Role

Conductor