Nimrod David Pfeffer
Conductor
Praised for the depth and fresh insights of his interpretations of great masterpieces as well as contemporary repertoire, Nimrod David Pfeffer has performed with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, and Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted opera productions at distinguished venues including the Metropolitan Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, the Juilliard Opera, the Polish National Opera, and the Israeli Opera.
At the Metropolitan Opera, Pfeffer made his debut in 2022 conducting Le Nozze di Figaro and returned in 2024/25 to lead the Julie Taymor production of The Magic Flute. He has also been a frequent guest at the Israeli Opera, where he has led productions of Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, Simon Boccanegra, Die Zauberflöte, and Theodor, a new opera by Yonatan Cnaan and Ido Ricklin, in which he was involved throughout the creative process. The opera was met with critical and audience acclaim, was featured in subsequent seasons, and was adapted into a film production that is screened internationally and available on VOD.
Pfeffer has conducted at the Komische Oper Berlin, Polish National Opera, and the Juilliard Opera, where he made his debut with Così fan Tutte in 2019 and returned in 2023/24 to conduct La Clemenza di Tito. He made his debut with the Polish National Opera conducting Die Zauberflöte in 2023/24 and will return in 2025/26 to conduct it again. He also conducted Aida at the 52nd May Opera Evenings in Macedonia.
In 2024, he made his debut with the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, returning in 2024/25 to conduct a program of Grieg, Elgar, and Lutosławski. In 2025/26, he returns to the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra to conduct a program of American composers.
Beyond his work as a conductor, Pfeffer is an acclaimed concert pianist, regularly performing as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and vocal accompanist. He has appeared as soloist in renowned venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and The Metropolitan Opera, as well as the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and other major stages in the USA, Europe, and Asia.
Pfeffer often conducts and performs piano concertos from the keyboard. In the 2023/24 season, he led the Ra’anana Symphonette in a program featuring Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Major K467, and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony as both conductor and pianist, returning in 2024/25 to conduct and play Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Schumann’s Symphony No. 1.
His latest piano solo album, Nimrod David Pfeffer – Piano Works by Bach, Schumann, and Chopin, was released in 2022 on all streaming platforms.
Dedicated to fostering dialogue between Arabs and Jews in Israel, Pfeffer was honored with the Davis Projects for Peace Award for organizing a peace-focused fundraiser at Carnegie Hall.
Pfeffer studied orchestral conducting at The Juilliard School under Alan Gilbert, receiving the Bruno Walter Scholarship, Charles Schiff Conducting Prize, and Norman Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant. He also trained at Mannes College of Music and was a fellow of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. He has received grants from the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
He studied with esteemed musicians such as Pnina Salzman, Vadim Monastyrski, Gideon Hatzor, Michael Wolpe, André Hajdu, Victor Rosenbaum, Carl Schachter, Claude Frank, Byron Janis, Alan Gilbert, James Levine, and Richard Goode.
