urs leonhardt steiner
music director / conductor

Internationally renowned as a conductor, guitarist, educator, and composer, in 1994 Maestro Steiner founded the orchestra that would become the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.

Originally from Chur, Switzerland, he studied at the University of Tubingen and graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He took advanced conducting studies with James Wimer and Gustav Meier, as well as participating in Master classes with Andre Previn, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonhard Bernstein, and Herbert von Karajan, Maestro Steiner’s compositions include the operas “Il Secondo Settenio” and “Return of the Phantoms” which have been performed to critical acclaim in Switzerland and the United States. In addition to leading the Golden Gate Symphony in local and international endeavors, he is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras and ensembles in Europe, the United States and Central America.