The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has announced that Anna Handler (*1996) has been appointed as assistant conductor for a two-year term commencing in September 2024. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons appointed Handler to the position, where she will join Samy Rachid, appointed in 2023, as one of the BSO’s two assistant conductors. Handler will assume her position following the departure of assistant conductor Earl Lee, whose appointment will conclude at the end of the 2024 Tanglewood season. The young German-Colombian conductor will make her scheduled debut with the orchestra during the 2025 Tanglewood season, followed by concerts at Symphony Hall during the BSO’s 2025–26 season.
Handler is a Dudamel Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the current 2023/24 season.
As part of her studies at the Juilliard School, where she graduated in May 2023, Anna Handler was mentored by David Robertson. She was the first female conductor there to receive the Juilliard Kovner Fellowship for outstanding students.
