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Up Next

Jan. 24-Feb. 14, 2025

Puccini: La bohème

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

“Kamensek is experienced in Glass’s operas, and under her the orchestra sounded right at home. There was an excellent balance of instrumental colors—and with the singers—and the playing had focus and equipoise, the kind of warmth one can feel, and it flowed and built a profoundly affecting momentum while always held with a light and certain grip.” – New York Classical Review, 2019

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About Karen

Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek’s expansive artistry coupled with her deep commitment for championing composers of the 20th and 21st century is reflected in her work in both the opera house and on the concert stage. The 2024/25 season underscores her remarkable versatility as a musician, as she makes several important debuts, including productions of La Bohème at the Houston Grand Opera and Candide and at Semperoper Dresden, alongside symphonic debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, the Kraków Philharmonic, and the Edmonton Symphony. Elsewhere this season she will return to the San Francisco Opera with The Handmaid’s Tale, to the Metropolitan Opera with Moby Dick, and to the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra for a joint project with the Arctic Philharmonic.

 

Frequently in demand as a guest conductor with many of today’s most prominent opera companies, Ms. Kamensek’s recent opera highlights include her performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Puccini´s Tosca; the English National Opera in Glass’ Akhnaten and Satyagraha; Welsh National Opera in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking and Bernstein’s Candide; the Metropolitan Opera in Glass’ Akhnaten and Verdi’s Rigoletto; the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; the Royal Swedish Opera in Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ Dracula”; the Opéra National du Rhin in the world premiere of Glass’ ballet Alice choreographed by Amir Hosseinpour and Johnathan Lunn; and in Bernstein’s Wonderful Town with the Norwegian Opera & Ballet. 

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About

Upcoming Performances

January 24 - February 14,  2025 

Puccini: La bohème

Houston Grand Opera

Wortham Theater Center (Houston, TX)

Joshua Guerrero, Rodolfo

Yaritza Véliz, Mimi

Edward Parks, Marcello

Juliana Grigoryan, Musetta

Cory McGee, Colline

Héctor Vásquez, Benoit/Alcindoro

Karen Kamensek, conductor

March 3 - 29, 2025

Jake Heggie: Moby-Dick

Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera House (New York, NY)

Pip, Janai Brugger

Capitan Ahab, Brandon Jovanovich

Greenhorn, Stephen Costello

Flask, William Burden

Starbuck, Peter Mattei

Stubb, Malcomlm MacKenzie

Queequeg, Ryan Speedo Green

Karen Kamensek, conductor

March 16, 2025

Laffont Grand Finals Concert

Metropolitan Opera House (New York, NY)

Karen Kamensek, conductor

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Upcomig Performances

“...Karen Kamensek’s authoritative conducting of the Met orchestra...From the start of the overture, the score bathed the ear in textured sound that conveyed, in its gently shifting luminosity, something of the distance of the archaic.”

The Washington Post, 2019

"Kamensek…deservedly earning the biggest applause of the night during the final curtain.”

Opera Wire, 2019

“...conductor Karen Kamensek weaves everything into a wonderful, ever shifting tapestry of sound.”

Bachtrack, 2016

“Keeping it all under a tight rein was conductor Karen Kamensek, making a most laudable ENO debut. The orchestra clearly found her direction stimulating, as they were on top form throughout.”

Seen and Heard International, 2016

Ms. Kamensek talks with Operabiz Podcast host Daniel Welch about making her Metropolitan Opera conducting debut this season, her road to conducting, her collaboration with Philip Glass, and a largely European career. She shares her insights on Glass' music as well as a fresh perspective on life on the podium.

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Contact

For booking information, please contact:

ARSIS Artist Management GmbH

in collaboration with Michael Lewin International

Mag. Gabriele Fauchet 

gfauchet@arsis-artists.com

Managing Director

+ 43 699 1075 4898

Kramergasse 9/3, 1010 Vienna, Austria

www.arsis-artists.com

 

For public relations inquiries, please contact:

Raechel Alexander
RA Communications

ralexander@ra-completecommunications.com

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