Regularly invited to conduct in Canada and overseas, Dina Gilbert attracts critical acclaim for her energy, precision and versatility. Born in Quebec province, Dina Gilbert is currently Music Director of the Kamloops Symphony (British-Columbia) and of the Orchestre symphonique de l'Estuaire (Québec), she is known for her contagious dynamism and her audacious programming.
Dina Gilbert is regularly invited by leading Canadian orchestras including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre métropolitain, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic and the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. In 2017, she made debut performances in the United States with the Eugene Symphony (Oregon) and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (North-Carolina) as well as in Asia conducting a series of five concerts with the Sinfonia Varsovia in Niigata and Tokyo.
Passionate about expanding classical audiences and with an innate curiosity towards non-classical musical genres, Dina has conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre national de Lyon in several Hip Hop Symphonic programmes collaborating with renowned Hip hop artists I AM, MC Solaar, Youssoupha, Arsenik and Bigflo & Oli.
As the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Arkea, a Montreal-based chamber orchestra, Dina premiered over thirty works from emerging young Canadian composers.
From 2013 to 2016, Dina Gilbert was assistant conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Maestro Kent Nagano, also assisting guest conductors including Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Lawrence Foster and Giancarlo Guerrero. In April 2016, she received great acclaim for stepping in to replace Maestro Alain Altinoglu with the OSM in a program showcasing Gustav Holst's The Planets.
Highlights of the season 2019-2020 include her debuts in Spain conducting the Orquestra Simfonica del Gran Teatre Del Liceu, as well as her debut in South Korea with world acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell in a performance of The Red Violin. Also making her debut with the Orchestre National de Metz, Dina Gilbert also returns to conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. The 2019-2020 season is also her first one in the position of newly appointed Principal Conductor of the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal.
Dina Gilbert earned her doctorate from the Université de Montréal, where she studied with Jean-François Rivest and Paolo Bellomia. Awarded the Opus Prize of "Découverte de l'année" in 2017, Dina Gilbert also was one of the 50 personalities creating the extraordinary in Québec in 2018 by the Urbania Magazine. She has also received support from the Canada Arts Council, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and from the Père-Lindsay Foundation.
In July 2024, Dina Gilbert has been appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Walla Walla Symphony (Washington).
