BIOGRAPHY
A brilliant and collaborative conductor, Hannah Schendel is dedicated to performing and programming compelling music that explores the human experience. Schendel currently serves as Cover Conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra where she has assisted conductors including Osmo Vänskä, Ruth Reinhardt, and Tito Muñoz. Additionally, she holds the position of Music Director of the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and serves as Interim Conductor of the Carleton Orchestra.
Recently, Schendel participated in masterclasses with renowned maestri, including the Järvi Academy/Pärnu Music Festival with Paavo Järvi, the LEAD Foundation/Fiskars Summer Music Festival with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Eva Ollikainen, and the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music with Cristian Măcelaru.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include performances of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Wayzata Symphony, Two Rivers Chorale, and Edina Chorale, collaborations with soloists Cassie Pilgrim and Gao Hong, and guest conducting the Rochester Symphony. Schendel has also been reinvited to cover performances with the Minnesota Orchestra and is working on a long-term collaboration with violist Nathaniel Sendi on Jörg Widmann’s Viola Concerto.
Passionate about crafting performances that celebrate contemporary music and underrepresented composers alongside beloved classics, Schendel's recent and upcoming repertoire includes works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Nkeiru Okoye, Elfrida Andrée, Lili Boulanger, Gao Hong, Cécile Chaminade, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Jennifer Higdon, Chen Yi, and Stella Sung.
A natural collaborator, Schendel has conducted Lalo’s Cello Concerto with Anthony Ross and Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with Yucheng Zeng. She has also guest conducted a variety of concerti with the Starling Chamber Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor for Gregory Spears’ acclaimed American opera Fellow Travelers and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Additionally, she has been Cover Conductor for numerous performances featuring soloists such as Steven Banks, George Li, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Stuart Skelton, and Catherine Martin.
In high demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and speaker, Schendel is passionate about inspiring young musicians and demystifying classical music for audiences. She has guest conducted the Brevard Philharmonic and the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra, and conducted at the 2024 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Festival. Schendel has appeared on podcasts and radio interviews and was invited to lead the Listening Lab, a new initiative by the Lakes Area Music Festival aimed at creating a welcoming environment for community members interested in learning about classical music.
Schendel was a semifinalist in the 2023 Sergey Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition and won conducting prizes in The American Prize (2021). She was selected by Diane Wittry to be a Conducting Fellow with the Allentown Symphony during the 2018/19 season. Schendel studied orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under Mark Gibson and has been mentored by notable figures such as Johannes Schlaefli, Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, Joe Miller, Kathy Romey, Jonathan Martin, and Michelle Miller Burns.