Julian Pellicano

Known for his versatility across a broad spectrum of genres, dynamic interpretations and meticulous technique, American-Canadian conductor Julian Pellicano is the newly appointed Music Director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, conductor on the staff of the National Ballet of Canada and is also Music Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Bringing an incisive musicality and collaborative spirit to every performance, he has built a wide-ranging
international career leading the Winnipeg Free Press to proclaim that “his versatility is truly astonishing.” 

Associate conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from  2013 - 2024, Julian conducted hundreds of performances on all of the orchestra’s various series, contributed to the development of the orchestra’s programming and established himself in the community as an ambassador for the WSO. As a guest he has conducted orchestras and ballet companies in North America and abroad including the Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Hong Kong Ballet, the Orquestra de Valencia, the Calgary Philharmonic, Orlando Ballet, Edmonton Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Vermont Symphony among others.

Passionate about the intersection of music and dance, he has conducted numerous classical and contemporary ballet productions, performing the works of internationally renowned choreographers Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Angelin Prelocaj, James Kudelka, Twyla Tharp, Frederick Ashton, Mauricio Wainrot, Rudi Van Dantzig, Lila York, Jorden Morris and Septime Webre.

Highly experienced with live-to-film performances, Mr. Pellicano’s film project credits encompass more than 35 titles including Miloš Forman’s award-winning film Amadeus, many
legendary films scored by John Williams, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with its original 1927 score, as well as recent blockbusters, and classic films of the “Golden Age” of Hollywood.

Julian Pellicano studied conducting at the Yale School of Music with Shinik Hahm and during that time also trained in masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Peter Eötvös, Zsolt Nagy, Martyn Brabbins, Carl St.Clair, L’Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra. At Yale  He was a recipient of the Presser Music Award, awarded prizes from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and Yale’s Phillip F. Nelson Prize for Musical Entrepreneurship.

His career grew out of unconventional beginnings, starting as a primarily self-taught percussionist, timpanist, drummer and accordionist, performing in a wide variety of styles, genres, bands and ensembles. He studied percussion at the Peabody Conservatory, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Yale School of Music where he was a member of the critically acclaimed Yale Percussion Group. As a percussionist, he has performed in concert halls and festivals in North America, Europe and Asia. He also holds a degree in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University.