Levi Hammer

conductor

About

 
 
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Known for his remarkable range and versatility, American conductor Levi Hammer appears regularly as symphonic and operatic conductor, concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and art song collaborator. In his current season he performs across Europe and America, leading the Barrie Kosky production of Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) at the Berliner Ensemble, and conducting orchestras including a debut with the Athens State Orchestra. Additionally he will work as assistant conductor for productions of Das Rheingold at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Wozzeck at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. He will also perform “Gershwin in Vienna,” a solo piano program exploring the relationship between George Gershwin and the composers of the Second Viennese School.

 

News

 
Photo: Marco Borggreve

Photo: Marco Borggreve

Equilibrium Artists

Levi joined Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium initiative, collaborating with Barbara and Equilibrium colleagues on projects in Paris, Munich and Stockholm. Read more

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Universal Edition

With the support of the Schoenberg family, Universal Edition has published Levi’s chamber orchestra arrangement of Arnold Schoenberg’s lusciously romantic, Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5.

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DMA

Levi has completed the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

 

Upcoming

 

May 19 - July 21, 2023

Berg: Wozzeck

Levi Hammer, musical assistance

Simon Rattle, conductor

Simon McBurney, stage director

London Symphony Orchestra

With Christian Gerhaher, Malin Byström, Thomas Blondelle, Brindley Sherratt, Peter Hoare

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence, France

September 3, 2023

Craig Urquhart: 70th Birthday Concert

Music of Urquhart, Bernstein and Copland

A celebration of the life and work of composer Craig Urquhart, featuring his music and that of his mentors, and including world premieres by Urquhart and Bernstein

Levi Hammer, piano/conductor

With Alexander Frey, Byron Knutson, Kim Criswell, Collin Rich

Knutson Studios - Berlin

September 25, 2023

Het Collectief

Busoni: Berceuse Elégiaque

Zemlinksy-De Leeuw: Sechs Gesänge nach Maeterlinck

Schoenberg-Hammer: Pelleas und Melisande

Festival 20.21

Levi Hammer’s arrangement of Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande.

Gregor Mayrhofer, conductor

Het Collectief

 

October, 2023

Recording Project

Gershwin in Vienna: Gershwin and the Second Viennese School

Teldex Studio Berlin

November 3, 4, 5, 2023

Weill/Brecht: Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera)

Levi Hammer, conductor

Barrie Kosky, stage director

With Nico Holonics, Gabriel Schneider, Cynthia Micas, Tilo Nest, Constanze Becker, Pauline Knof, Kathrin Wehlisch, Laura Balzer, Bettina Hoppe, Sonja Beißwenger, Amelie Willberg, et al.

Berliner Ensemble

November 27, 2023

Tempe Symphony Orchestra

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D-minor, K. 466

Levi Hammer, piano

Douglas Akey, conductor

Tempe Center for the Arts

Tempe, Arizona (USA)

 

December 30, 31, 2023, January 1, 2024

Weill/Brecht: Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera)

Levi Hammer, conductor

Barrie Kosky, stage director

With Nico Holonics, Gabriel Schneider, Cynthia Micas, Tilo Nest, Constanze Becker, Pauline Knof, Kathrin Wehlisch, Laura Balzer, Bettina Hoppe, Sonja Beißwenger, Amelie Willberg, et al.

Berliner Ensemble

January 3 - 21, 2024

Wagner: Das Rheingold

Levi Hammer, musical assistance

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Alberto Arvelo, stage director

Frank Gehry, scenic design

Walt Disney Concert Hall

With Ryan Speedo Green, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Simon O’Neill, Barry Banks, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Morris Robinson, Peixin Chen, Jessica Faselt, Ann Toomey, Alexandria Shiner, Taylor Raven, Tamara Mumford, John Matthew Myers, Kyle Albertson, et al.

Los Angeles Philharmonic

January 19, 2024

Gershwin in Vienna: Gershwin and the Second Viennese School

Gershwin: Three Preludes

Schoenberg: Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11

Gershwin: George Gershwin’s Songbook - Part 1

Berg: Piano Sonata, Op. 1

Webern: Variations for Piano, Op. 27

Gershwin: George Gershwin’s Songbook - Part 2

Schoenberg: Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19

Gershwin: Jazzbo Brown Blues

Levi Hammer, piano

UCLA

(University of California, Los Angeles)

Los Angeles, California (USA)

 

January 30, 2024

Schoenberg Perspectives

Schoenberg: Lieder

Schoenberg: String Trio, Op. 45

Schoenberg-Hammer: Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5

Levi Hammer, conductor

Musicians of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Memorial Hall

Cincinnati, Ohio (USA)

concert:nova

February 1, 2024

Gershwin in Vienna: Gershwin and the Second Viennese School

Gershwin: Three Preludes

Schoenberg: Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11

Gershwin: George Gershwin’s Songbook - Part 1

Berg: Piano Sonata, Op. 1

Webern: Variations for Piano, Op. 27

Gershwin: George Gershwin’s Songbook - Part 2

Schoenberg: Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19

Gershwin: Jazzbo Brown Blues

Levi Hammer, piano

First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio (USA)

concert:nova

February 9, 2024

Albanian National Symphony

Levi Hammer, conductor/pianist

Sibelius: Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 46

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D-minor, K. 466

Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B♭ major, D. 485

 

February 25, 2024

Blutenburg Kammerphilharmonie München

Levi Hammer, conductor/pianist

C.P.E. Bach: Symphony in D major, Wq. 183/1

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D-minor, K. 466

Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

March 26, 2024

Festkonzert • Symphonische Kammermusik

Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie op. 9

Schoenberg-Hammer: Pelleas und Melisande

Levi Hammer’s arrangement of Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande.

Members of the Vienna Philharmonic

Katharina Wincor, conductor

Arnold Schönberg Center

March 27, 28, 2024

Lapland Chamber Orchestra

Schoenberg-Hammer: Pelleas und Melisande

Levi Hammer’s arrangement of Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande.

John Storgårds, conductor

Lapland Chamber Orchestra

(Rovaniemi, Finland)

 

March 29, 2024

Athens State Orchestra

Levi Hammer, conductor

LINA TONIA: Ganymede (World Premiere)

GIORGOS KOUMENDAKIS: Requiem

CLAUDE DEBUSSY: La Damoiselle élue

BOHUSLAV MARTINU: Concerto for two pianos and orchestra

With Aphrodite Patoulidou, Kora Karvouni, Lenia Zafeiropoulou, Panagiotis Trochopoulos, Apostolos Palios, the Meizon Ensemble and the Equabily Ensemble

Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall

(Athens, Greece)

April 22 - May 17, 2024

Wagner: Die Walküre

Levi Hammer, assistant conductor/pianist

Sir Donald Runnicles and Nicholas Carter, conductors

Stefan Herheim, stage director

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

With Michael König, Tobias Kehrer, Derek Welton, Elisabeth Teige, Annika Schlicht, Ricarda Merbeth, Irene Roberts, et al.

Deutsche Oper Berlin

April 22 - May 17, 2024

Wagner: Götterdämmerung

Levi Hammer, assistant conductor/pianist

Sir Donald Runnicles and Nicholas Carter, conductors

Stefan Herheim, stage director

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

With Clay Hilley, Thomas Lehman, Jordan Shanahan, Albert Pesendorfer, Annika Schlicht, Ricarda Merbeth, Felicia Moore, et al.

Deutsche Oper Berlin

 

June 5 & 6, 2024

Weill/Brecht: Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera)

Levi Hammer, conductor

Barrie Kosky, stage director

With Nico Holonics, Gabriel Schneider, Cynthia Micas, Tilo Nest, Constanze Becker, Pauline Knof, Kathrin Wehlisch, Laura Balzer, Bettina Hoppe, Sonja Beißwenger, Amelie Willberg, et al.

Berliner Ensemble

June 17- July 14, 2024

Peter Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King

György Kurtág: Kafka-Fragmente

Levi Hammer, musical assistance

Barrie Kosky, stage director

Pierre Bleuse, conductor

Johannes Martin Kränzle, Baritone

Anna Prohaska, Soprano

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Violin

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence, France

 

Media

 
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Instagram

The American premiere of my arrangement of Arnold Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, op. 5 Huge gratitude to the passionate musicians of @concertnova for playing their hearts out.
I count myself a very lucky musician as I depart Cincinnati and travel back to Europe. The brilliant artists of concert:nova generously hosted me for a weeklong residency: an all-Schoenberg program featuring early romantic songs, the late searing Str
Also while in Los Angeles, I played my piano program “Gershwin in Vienna: Gershwin and the Second Viennese School” for the first time in the 2024 Arnold Schoenberg Sesquicentennial. And it was an exceptional honor to play Schoenberg&rsquo
It was a great joy to once again serve as assistant conductor for a Wagner opera with the @laphil. Our “Rheingold” production was to commemorate the 20th anniversary of @frankgehry_official’s @waltdisneyconcerthall, and it was Gehry
@uclaalpert @ucla @uclamaje @arnoldschoenbergcenter
Summer reflection - Estonia On the magical island of Saaremaa in Estonia.
Summer reflection - Israel Camping in the north and swimming in the River Jordan, the Dan River and the See of Galilee. Haifa and Tel Aviv. And a deeply moving visit to Jerusalem.
Summer reflection - France This summer I made a concerted effort to get away from the florescent lights of rehearsal rooms and absorb some sun in preparation for the gray of the Berlin winter. First romping around Aix in the paradise that is Provence
Today in Berlin we celebrate the life and work of my friend Craig Urquhart on his 70th birthday with a retrospective concert of his compositions as well as music by his mentors Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Alexander Frey, Kim Criswell, Byron
With our inspirational and illustrious Wozzeck director, Simon McBurney. With our Wozzeck himself, Christian Gerhaher, with whom I spent a Sternstunde of an afternoon playing Schumann Lieder. With a bunch of the Wozzeck cast post-premiere. I’m
In the course of staging our Wozzeck, I ended up playing the onstage piano part and conducting the bandas both on and off stage. And it was a thrill to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal so Sir Simon could listen from the perspective
There’s nobody I’d rather have learned Wozzeck with than our beloved Simon Rattle. You can absorb so much just from his presence.  And his immense musical authority comes from a boundless generosity of spirit, which I hope to ta

 Writings

 

Contact

 

Management team:

Artistic Advisor: Craig Urquhart

The Craig Urquhart Office

e-mail: thecraigurquhartoffice@gmail.com

phone: +49 177 197 1669

 

Please use this form to contact Levi directly.