CV available here: CV (Reference contacts available upon request)

American-German conductor and pianist Luke Poeppel is the Ensemble Conductor for the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, having recently concluded two seasons as assistant conductor for the Kansas City Symphony (under music director Matthias Pintscher). At the Kansas City Symphony, he led nearly 30 performances in the 2024-2025’ and 2025-2026’ seasons, from family performances with Really Inventive Stuff to Pops performances with Capathia Jenkins and Cody Fry. He has served as a cover conductor for orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Opera Delaware, and Juilliard Opera.

Passionate about opera, Poeppel worked for two seasons as assistant conductor for the Glimmerglass Festival, conducting the final performance of Sunday in the Park with George for their 50th anniversary season. For the 2025 Prototype Festival in New York City, he was the Associate Conductor for Cerrone & Fleischmann’s opera In a Grove, stepping in to conduct the full run of performances; this run was featured in the New York Times’ Best Classical Performances of 2025. Poeppel subsequently conducted In a Grove at Opera Saratoga. More recently, he served as guest conductor for the Grossman Ensemble. Poeppel is a 2025 winner of a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.