Derek Gleeson

Derek Gleeson is an Irish/American musician. Born in Dublin, Ireland. He is currently the music director and conductor of the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra (since 1997) and has been the conductor at the Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival (now disbanded). Since 2025 Gleeson is also music director & conductor of the Vienna Festival Orchestra * Vienna Festival Orchestra – CAMI Music. Since January 2016 Gleeson is Principal Guest Conductor or The Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Harbin, China. (A city of 10 million people) He also composes musical scores for film and television and of symphonic music for the concert hall.

Gleeson Founded the FAS/Screen Training Ireland Film Scoring Program in 1996 (now called ScreenSkills) with Industry legend Don Brandon Ray, the creator of the first film scoring program in the world at UCLA in 1980. * Industry Mourns Death of Composer Don Brandon Ray – IFTN

He then founded the Pulse College/DIT MA in scoring program in Ireland in 2014 They shoot, they score – The Irish Times (2014) and the Film Scoring Academy of Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2016, as well as the Film Scoring Academy of Europe Examination Board in Ireland in 2019. Gleeson was Founder Board Member and Executive Director of the European Academy of Fine Arts from September 2019 until July 2024