Greater Bridgeport Symphony Names Eduardo Leandro Music Director and Principal Conductor
As the Greater Bridgeport Symphony prepares to embark on a new era, it is doing so with enormous anticipation and excitement. So says Mark R. Halstead, president of the orchestra’s board of trustees. “We have such a lot of great news as we move forward to our 80th anniversary season with a new music director and principal conductor, Eduardo Leandro,” Halstead said recently.
Following an exhaustive two-year search, the orchestra has named Leandro, of New York, to the orchestra’s top musical position. In his new role, Leandro — a touring percussionist, educator and conductor — will be responsible for designing and executing each new season.
Board Trustee Richard A. Cerrato, who served on the search committee, noted that in May 2023 the GBS “embarked on a new search for its sixth conductor in its nearly 80-year history. The GBS board of trustees charged a search committee, made up of its musicians and board members, to find a worthy candidate to succeed its two most … beloved maestros, the late Gustav Meier [who served for more than 40 years] and Eric Jacobsen, who have led the orchestra since 1972.
“The search committee received more than 160 applications from candidates in a worldwide search. It then recommended four finalists to conduct concerts in 2024. . .
“After all was said and done, the (board) voted to engage the dynamic, and talented Eduardo Leandro to lead the orchestra.“ Cerrato, a Bridgeport lawyer, said that while all four finalists were exceptionally gifted conductors, Leandro was deemed “the best fit,” a musician who would “enable the orchestra to continue its mission to celebrate, educate, inspire and provide excellence in musical programming.”
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim said in a prepared statement that Leandro, “a newly-sworn U.S. citizen born in Brazil has demonstrated qualities of talent, generosity, civic pride, dedication to the arts, concern for the inner city and cultural ambassadorship which show the best of what Bridgeport is and can be.”
When hearing the news, Leandro, who celebrated his 54th birthday on March 4, said he is “so happy to help this amazing institution move forward. “
Among his goals, said Leandro, is to ensure that the orchestra’s home in Bridgeport is ”considered as a community center, a place where you can feel welcome, a place for everyone who wants to hear great music without feeling intimidated.”
The multi-lingual Leandro, a commercial pilot with his own airplane, will continue as associate professor of music at Stony Brook University on Long Island and as conductor of the New York New Music Ensemble. Leandro, who had studied conducting privately with the Swiss-born Maestro Meier, served as principal guest conductor for the GBS’ 78th season, on the podium for all five season concerts.
Leandro’s inaugural concert, was sponsored by the Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation, on May 10, 2025 at the Klein Memorial Auditorium and featured pianist Andrew Armstrong, who over the years has proven to be one of the GBS’ most popular soloists. (Armstrong performed Rachmaninoff ’s Concerto No. 2 in C minor.)
The entire 80th anniversary season will be offered in honor of the late Fairfield philanthropists Herbert F. Harrington Jr., founder of Rotair Aerospace Corp., and wife, Doris Domonkos Harrington, former vice president of Rotair, who for many years served as GBS president and board chairwoman. Both, in their 90s, passed away recently.
Herbert and Doris Harrington
Tickets, tickets, tickets
Subscription packages for 2025-2026 season are available, according to Phyllis Rhodes Cortese, the GBS’ executive director. Concerts are slated for the Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport and The Mertens Theatre at University of Bridgeport, 84 Iranistan Ave. Bridgeport.
For additional information/tickets, visit GBS.org or call 203.576.0263.
