Grant Llewellyn served as North Carolina Symphony’s Music Director for sixteen seasons and now holds the title of Music Director Laureate. 

Grant Llewellyn is renowned for his exceptional charisma, energy, and easy authority in music of all styles and periods. Concluding his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne (ONB) in 2023 after eight years, he finished the season with a spectacular concert at Festival de Saint Denis in Paris with Bryn Terfel and Carlos Núñez. He will return as guest conductor for the final concert of ONB’s 2023/24 season.

Llewellyn’s guest engagements have included the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, among others. He has conducted widely across North America, most notably The Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Milwaukee, Montreal, St. Louis, and Toronto.

During his time as Music Director of the Handel and Haydn Society, America’s leading period orchestra, Llewellyn gained a reputation as a formidable interpreter of music of the baroque and classical periods. An accomplished opera conductor, he has appeared at opera companies including the English National Opera, Opera North, and the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Notable recordings with the North Carolina Symphony include American Spectrum, featuring 20th century works with the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and Britten’s Cello Symphony and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with the cellist Zuill Bailey.

Deeply committed and passionate about engaging young people with music, Llewellyn regularly leads education and outreach projects; in 2017 he led the first ever “relaxed” BBC Prom with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, a concert specially designed for those with autism, sensory and communication impairments, and learning disabilities.

Born in Tenby, South Wales, Llewellyn won a Conducting Fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts in 1985, where he worked with Bernstein, Ozawa, Masur, and Previn.