Hannah Schendel is a brilliant and collaborative conductor dedicated to performing and programming music that explores the human experience. Currently, she serves as Cover Conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra, where she has worked alongside distinguished conductors such as Music Director Thomas Søndergård, Osmo Vänskä, Ruth Reinhardt, Tito Muñoz, Jordan de Souza, and Bill Eddins. Schendel is also the Music Director of the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and Visiting Conductor with the Carleton Orchestra.

Schendel was named the 2025 David Effron Conducting Fellow at the Chautauqua Institution, where she will conduct and assist Timothy Muffitt, Rossen Milanov, and Steven Osgood on a variety of symphonic and opera performances. This spring, she was chosen as one of three finalists in the prestigious Mills Williams Junior Fellowship competition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. A semifinalist in the 2023 Sergey Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition, she has garnered honors from The American Prize, and is a former Conducting Fellow with the Allentown Symphony.

A natural collaborator, Schendel has performed alongside celebrated soloists, including Anthony Ross (principal cello, Minnesota Orchestra), Cassie Pilgrim (principal oboe, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), and Gao Hong (pipa). She is also in demand as a guest conductor and served as Assistant Conductor for Gregory Spears' acclaimed opera Fellow Travelers and Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Schendel has recently assisted Minnesota Orchestra subscription programs including Mozart’s Requiem, the Nordic Soundscapes Festival, Puccini’s Turandot, and the Composer Institute: Future Classics led by composer, Kevin Puts. As a Cover Conductor, she has worked with soloists such as Johan Dalene, Avi Avital, Stuart Skelton, Christine Goerke, Limmie Pulliam, George Li, J’Nai Bridges, Jon Kimura Parker, Steven Banks, and Njioma Chinyere Grevious.

She has participated in prestigious festivals including the Järvi Academy/Pärnu Music Festival led by Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, and Leonid Grin, the LEAD Foundation/Fiskars Summer Music Festival led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Eva Ollikainen, and the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music led by Cristian Măcelaru.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season included performances of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, and a range of guest conducting engagements. She was re-invited to assist the Minnesota Orchestra and is developing an exciting long-term collaboration with violist Nathaniel Sendi, featuring Jörg Widmann’s Viola Concerto.

A passionate advocate for contemporary and underrepresented composers, Schendel’s 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.

Schendel is committed to building bridges with diverse audiences, demystifying classical music, and engaging with local communities. She is frequently invited as a guest artist and clinician with schools and youth organizations, including with YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio, the 2025 Northwest Suburban All-Conference Festival, and the 2024 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Festival. Schendel has appeared on podcasts and radio interviews and has led repertoire discussions for the Lakes Area Music Festival.

Schendel studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Mark Gibson and Joe Miller, and has been mentored by renowned figures such as Johannes Schlaefli, Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, Kathy Romey, Jonathan Martin, and Michelle Miller Burns.