Dina Gilbert
Dina Gilbert is a Canadian conductor passionate about educating audiences of all ages and broadening their appreciation of orchestral music through innovative collaborations. This commitment, as well as Dina’s extensive repertoire—often highlighting Canadian and female composers—have shaped her career and the orchestras she has worked with over the years. Regularly invited to conduct in Canada and overseas, she attracts critical acclaim for her energy, precision, and versatility. Dina Gilbert is currently Music Director of the Kamloops Symphony where she is known for her contagious dynamism and her audacious programming.
Over the years, Dina has been invited by leading Canadian orchestras and has conducted performances in the United States, Colombia, Spain, France, and Japan. Her innate curiosity towards non-classical musical genres and her willingness to democratize classical music have brought her to engagements conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre national de Lyon in several Hip Hop Symphonique programs featuring renowned artists I AM, MC Solaar, Youssoupha, and Bigflo & Oli.
As the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Arkea, a Montreal-based chamber orchestra, Dina premiered over 30 works from emerging young Canadian composers. Committed to music education, she has reached thousands of children in Canada with her interactive and participative Conducting 101 workshops. From 2013 to 2016, Dina Gilbert was Assistant Conductor to Kent Nagano at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and also assisted guest conductors such as Zubin Mehta and Sir Roger Norrington.
Highlights of the 2022–23 season include debuts with the NAC Orchestra, Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire, a tour with Orchestre national de Metz, and return invitations with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Orchestre symphonique de Québec. As the Principal Conductor of the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, she will notably conduct Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Prokofiev’s Cinderella.