Finnish–American conductor Nathaniel Efthimiou brings a multifaceted musical background to his work on the podium and in communities. He is currently the Associate Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony. He previously served as assistant conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and as assistant professor of music at Berklee College of Music. A four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, he was recently named the AAF/Faber Young Conductor Fellow at the Salzburg Festival by members of the Vienna Philharmonic and was a semifinalist in the 2023 Hong Kong International Conducting Competition.

He has worked with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra (Donatella Flick Conducting Competition), Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Jacksonville Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and Amarillo Symphony among others. He received critical acclaim for short-notice appearances with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and has served as cover conductor for Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Keith Lockhart, Robert Spano and others with orchestras including Boston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony. His ongoing development has been enriched by personal invitations to observe Christian Thielemann and Riccardo Muti in rehearsal.

A passionate educator, Efthimiou currently serves as Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras, where he has expanded their programming with contemporary works by Reena Esmail and Quinn Mason and performances of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. He has led programs for the New England Conservatory’s Summer Orchestra Institute, rehearsed the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and served on the Anthony Quinn Foundation’s scholarship selection committee. He has guest conducted and lectured at numerous institutions, including Boston University, where he presented a seminar for doctoral candidates on the transition from student to professional. He previously led the instrumental music program at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee.

Equally at home in the opera pit, he was the 2023 Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Resident at Opera Southwest, where he assisted Anthony Barrese and conducted Rossini’s “L’occasione fa il ladro.” He has worked on productions of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Tosca, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, as well as contemporary operas like Tom Cipullo’s After Life with the BU Opera Institute.
A former composer, Efthimiou remains a strong advocate for new music. He has premiered works with the Aspen Music Festival’s Schumann Center, BU Opera Institute and the Boston University Center for New Music, and his own compositions have been featured in festivals including the Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), UPBEAT (Croatia) and WSKG’s “Expressions.” He studied composition with Joel Hoffman, David Ludwig and David Davies.

Efthimiou’s musical path began with piano, violin and organ, followed by composition and later conducting. As a violinist, he was a 1st violinist with the Southern Tier Symphony in New York and freelanced as a violinist in Memphis, Tennessee. He studied conducting at the Aspen Music Festival (James Conlon Prize), the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and Domaine Forget, with mentors including Bramwell Tovey, Robert Spano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Cristian Măcelaru. He holds degrees from the Greatbatch School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University.