Bryan Nies is the Principal Conductor of Festival Opera; Interim Music Director of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra; former Associate Conductor of Oakland Symphony; and former Principal Conductor of Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, which he led on international tours, including to Australia and New Zealand during the orchestra’s 40th season.

He returned to Festival Opera in 2016, to conduct performances of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail in a “Star Trek” setting, performances of Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins in 2017, and of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah in 2019. In addition, he has been a cover conductor for the St. Louis Symphony, conducted performances with Opera Idaho, the Diablo Symphony, and the Oakland Chamber Ensemble. With Eugene Onegin, he made his Opera San Jose debut as Principal Conductor and continued with notable performances of The Crucible, Werther, La Voix Humaine, Pagliacci, and the west coast premiere of Anna Karenina, becoming the second conductor to perform the work. Nies continues to conduct innovative operas including successful performances of As One, with West Edge Opera, and Erling Wold's Fabrications. He regularly performs in recital and has debuted his first recording "Amour sans ailes: Songs of Reynaldo Hahn," on the MSR Classics label in October of 2017.

Pursuing an avid interest in all musical genres, Nies has served as Associate Music Director with

American Musical Theater of San Jose and Theatreworks in Palo Alto. He was a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is currently a lecturer at Stanford University and voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY Awards).