Now in her 4th season with the GVO, Music Director Barbara Yahr has brought the orchestra to a new level of distinction. Her dynamic programming and outreach to the educational community of WIHS and the Union Square neighborhood have established the GVO as an important part of the New York music scene.

A native of New York, her career has spanned from the United States to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. with Lorin Maazel as violin soloist prompted an invitation from the Symphony Orchestra Academy Orchestra on tour with Lorin Maazel as violin soloist. An invitation from the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich for the following two seasons and successive engagements with the Munich Radio Orchestra for both concert and radio recordings earned her recognition in the German press. She served as Principal Guest Conductor for the Munich Radio from 1998-2000.

Her guest appearances include performances with the Dusseldorf Symphoniker, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Janacek Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, National Symphony, Columbus, Calgary, Chattanooga, Louisiana, New World, Ohio Chamber, St. Paul Chamber, Richmond Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and Anchorage Symphony. She has also appeared in Israel with symphony orchestras in Jerusalem and Elat.
Ms. Yahr made her German operatic debut with a new production of “ Rigoletto” at the Stattheater Giessen, followed by a new production of “l’Elisir d’Amore” at the Oper Frankfurt.. She conducted “Tosca” with the Tulsa Opera in what Tulsa World called a “superb” performance and has appeared with the Minnesota Opera, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera and Stattheater of Hannover, Germany. Her debut with the Cincinnati Opera in “Carmen” led to a return engagement with a new production of “Samson and Delilah”. Her performances of Mozart operas at the Mannes College of Music were praised by the New York critics.

Ms Yahr is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Middlebury College where she studied piano and Philosophy. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Max Rudolf, and a master’s degree in music theory from the Manhattan School of Music. Ms Yahr also studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, Maine. She now resides in New York with her husband, Alex Lerman, and their son Benjamin.