Symphony Sleigh Ride Adventure

Fernanda Lastra is an Argentine conductor with an international presence across American and Latin American orchestras. Lastra brings to the podium a conviction that music holds more than any word can contain—and that a live orchestra, at its best, is where a community comes to experience that truth together.

Recent seasons have established Lastra as an active conductor with prominent American orchestras and institutions. She has served as cover conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Portland Symphony Orchestra for two consecutive seasons, and with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. As a guest conductor, highlights include her appearance with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in the Masterworks Series, the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (OFUNAM) in Mexico City, and her debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile. Upcoming engagements include the Lima Symphony, the South Bend Symphony, and Orchestra Iowa. She is represented by Pura Musica Artists (Wiebke Küster) and Halac Artists (Désirée Halac).

From 2022 to 2025, Lastra served as Assistant Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in close collaboration with Music Director JoAnn Falletta. In this role she served as cover conductor across the orchestra’s full 40-week season and led the Family, Youth, and Summer concert series. In 2025 she was invited to conduct the classical subscription series in her final season, a milestone debut featuring pianist Avery Gagliano. Lastra holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa, a Master’s in orchestral conducting from Penn State University, and a Bachelor’s in orchestral conducting from La Plata University in Argentina.