Lea Ray is a young German conductor and a laureate of Campus Dirigieren 2025, where she was also awarded the Orchestra Prize by the Dresdner Philharmonie. In the 2024-2025 season, she made her debut at the Landestheater Coburg with Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and conducted concerts with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and the Jenaer Philharmonie. At the Staatstheater Mainz, she assisted in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, including conducting one performance. Since 2024, she has been a scholar in the Forum Dirigieren.

Her engagements for the 2025-2026 season include concerts with the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. In recent seasons, she has assisted in opera productions such as Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar and Péter Eötvös’ Sleepless at Theater Chemnitz. In the 2022-2023 season, she was a conducting scholar and assistant with the Bergische Symphoniker.

She has gained conducting experience in rehearsals and concerts with the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Bodensee Philharmonie, and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. Lea Ray is currently studying at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar with Ekhart Wycik, Nicolás Pasquet, Johannes Klumpp, and Gregor Bühl. She has also received further valuable input from Johannes Schlaefli, Daniele Agiman, Ole Kristian Ruud, Christoph-Mathias Müller, Otto Tausk, Richard Wien, and Denis Rouger.