“On Friday the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic’s local audience will hear Broadway vocalists … paying tribute to Aretha Franklin and her music—from ‘Respect’ to ‘Nessun Dorma’ to several surprises—as the PNC Pops orchestra plays under the baton of Mélisse Brunet, who just this week signed a contract to become the Philharmonic conductor, after serving as interim conductor since 2018,” writes Marie Therese Biebel in Tuesday’s (2/11) Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA). “ ‘Our musicians love to play under her,’ [Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic Executive Director Nancy] Sanderson said. ‘She’s just so gifted…. She really makes the orchestra sound great, and there’s a respect and a very positive vibe in rehearsals.’ Brunet is well-regarded in the international music community, Sanderson said, so much so that she is one of twelve women conductors selected to be part of a competition called La Maestra, which is set for next month in Paris.” Brunet holds diplomas from the Paris Conservatory and the Université la Sorbonne, as well as a professional studies diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a doctorate in conducting from the University of Michigan. Brunet participated in the League of American Orchestras’ 2018 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview.
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