Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek’s expansive artistry coupled with her deep commitment for championing composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is reflected in her work in both the opera house and on the concert stage.
Frequently in demand as a guest conductor with many of today’s most prominent opera companies, Karen’s recent opera highlights include her performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca; the English National Opera in Philip Glass’ Akhnaten and Satyagraha; Welsh National Opera in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking and Leonard Bernstein’s Candide; the Metropolitan Opera in Glass’ Akhnaten and Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto; 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, among others.
Karen’s recent work as a symphonic conductor has brought her to the podia of such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Norrköping Symphony, Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, Calgary Philharmonic, Tiroler Symphonierorchester, and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, among others.
Karen served as the Music Director of the Staatsoper Hannover from 2011-2016. She has also served as 1st Kapellmeister at the Volksoper Wien (2000-2002), Music Director of the Theater Freiburg (2003-2006), Interim Music Director at the Slovenian National Theatre in Maribor (2007-2008), and Associate Music Director at the Staatsoper Hamburg (2008-2011).
