Spotlight | David T. Beals III Assistant Conductor

Luke Poeppel

American German conductor and pianist Luke Poeppel is currently the David T. Beals III Assistant Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. He recently served as associate conductor for Cerrone and Fleischmann’s opera In A Grove at the 2025 Prototype Festival, stepping in to conduct the full run of performances, which received critical acclaim from such outlets as the New York Times, Observer and Financial Times. In summer 2025, Poeppel will conduct In A Grove with Opera Saratoga, as well as serve as the assistant conductor for Tosca and Sunday in the Park with George at the Glimmerglass Festival.

With the Kansas City Symphony, in the 2024/25 season he conducted performances featuring Cody Fry and Project Trio, a series of KinderKonzerts co-hosted by KMBC’s Bryan Busby and a “Back to the 80s” pops concert. Other recent engagements include the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern (in Frankfurt, Germany), Orchestra of the League of Composers, Washington Square New Music Ensemble, Exceptet Ensemble and Rochester Summer Opera. Poeppel has served as a cover conductor for orchestras and ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Signal and Contemporaneous. In the 2025/26 season, Poeppel makes his debut with the Grossman Ensemble in Chicago.

Based in New York City, Poeppel is a 2024 graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received his master’s degree in conducting. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. He is the recipient of a 2025 Career Assistance Award from The Solti Foundation U.S.