Michael H. Coelho
Music Director and Symphony Orchestra Conductor

Michael Coelho returns to NMYO for the 2024-2025 Season as Music Director and Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as a Chamber Coach and, over a ten-year period, conducted the NMYO Prelude and Overture String Ensembles, and the Intermezzo Orchestra.
 
Mr. Coelho is the Director of Fine Arts for Ipswich Public Schools in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he oversees all K-12 music, art, and drama educators and students. As the Director of Orchestras for Ipswich Public Schools, he is responsible for five ensembles in grades 6-12. Mr. Coelho also serves on the music education faculty at Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA. Synthesizing traditional orchestral performance with a modern approach, Coelho’s unique educational methods and conducting frequently lead to statewide and national recognition.

​At the core of Mr. Coelho’s artistry is a philosophy rooted in the power of music as a source of strength and healing. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, his high school chamber orchestra students collaborated with Massachusetts General Hospital and the Voices of Hope adult choir for a fundraising gala video that helped raise over 1.1 million in support of the Cancer Center's most urgent clinical and research priorities. In 2012, Coelho founded the non-profit organization Concert for Hope, Inc., dedicated to promoting disease awareness and support through the production of annual concerts by an all-volunteer ensemble of amateur and professional musicians.

Mr. Coelho is frequently seen as a conductor throughout New England. In 2018, he served as the first conducting fellow for the Cape Ann Symphony, conducting alongside maestro Yoichi Udagawa and leading the pre-concert lecture series. He is a regular guest conductor for the New Bedford Symphony Youth Orchestras, the Fall River Symphony, and the Worcester Youth Orchestras. He has had the privilege of conducting the SEMSBA (Southeastern School Bandmasters Association) Senior Orchestra twice and conducted the MMEA Southeastern MA Jr District Orchestra, the Central MA Jr District Orchestra, and the Eastern MA Jr District Orchestra. He is actively involved in the MMEA (Massachusetts Music Educators Association) organization, having regularly served as an adjudicator, manager, and auditions coordinator.
 
In 2020, Mr. Coelho was recognized for outstanding teaching during COVID-19 by the Boston Globe’s Fenway Bowl Honor Roll. In both 2022 and 2024, he was named a finalist for the Music Educator of the Year Award given by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum.
 
In addition to his educational pursuits, Coelho enjoys a thriving freelance career as a violinist and violist. He has performed with renowned artists including the Hanson Brothers, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban, Itzhak Perlman, Denée Benton, Rita Wilson, and Cyndi Lauper in esteemed venues such as Boston Symphony Hall, Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, and Radio City Music Hall.