Musical Vienna – where to?

Karina Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after conductors of her generation. The principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2020 and principal guest conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) since 2019.

In the 2021/2022 season she made her debut with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the HR Symphony Orchestra and returned to the San Francisco Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris. In the summer of 2021, she made her debut with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood and with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Festival. On the opera stage, she conducted a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. With her Netherlands Radio Orchestra she gave a guest performance of Janáček’s “Kát’a Kabanová” at the Concertgebouw. She conducted the second act of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the third act of Wagner’s “Siegfried” with the Vienna Symphony at the Bregenz Festival. Previous operatic experience includes Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, “The Magic Flute”, “Le Nozze di Figaro”, David Lang’s “The Loser” and Peter Maxwell Davies’ “The Hogboon”.

Since winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016, Karina Canellakis has appeared with orchestras around the world, including London, Philadelphia, Hamburg, Montréal, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Detroit. She was the first woman to conduct the First Night of the BBC Proms in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2019. She was also the first woman to be entrusted with the Nobel Prize Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in 2018.

Karina Canellakis began her career initially as a violinist and chamber musician until she was encouraged by Sir Simon Rattle to devote herself to conducting. For two years she had been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. Born and raised in New York City, she can nevertheless draw on diverse family lines in various European countries.

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, has received international honors for his artistry and cultural leadership. Long recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, his operatic repertoire is over 80 roles and his discography comprises of more than 170 albums, including multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque.

Highlights of Hampson’s seasons included his return to the Wiener Staatsoper in his signature role of Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s “La Traviata”, and to Teatro alla Scala for a role debut, Altair in Strauss’ “Die ägyptische Helena”. In future seasons, at Opernhaus Zürich, he will create the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.

Notable engagements on the concert stage include opening the Oslo Philharmonic’s season in August 2020 with their new Chief Conductor, Klaus Mäkelä and performing at Vilnius Festival in Spring 2021. Hampson also takes part in the Gewandhausorchester’s Mahler Festival, appearing in recital with pianist Wolfram Rieger, and performing Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with Daniel Harding and the Wiener Philharmoniker. He appears on tour with Dennis Russel Davies and the MDR Leipzig in the Philharmonie Berlin and Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg. Hampson also takes his “No Tenors Allowed” programme to the Carmen Wüerth Forum, with bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. In the Pierre Boulez Saal he begins his return as Artistic Curator for the “Schubert Week” at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.

The 2018/19 season saw Hampson creating two world premiere operas for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto and the Houston Grand Opera in Texas: “Hadrian” by Rufus Wainwright and “The Phoenix” by Tarik O’Regan. Autumn 2018 included performances of Britten’s “War Requiem” with the Wiener Symphoniker under Philippe Jordan, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and his regular visit with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Conductor Vasily Petrenko. Hampson returned to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich under the baton of Mariss Jansons and to the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin with Vladimir Jurowski. With the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andris Nelsons he performed Mahler Songs on tour in Japan. Hampson’s gala performance schedule included colleagues Angela Gheorgiu, Nadine Sierra and Kristine Opolais. With Golda Schultz he starred in the Bayerische Staatsoper’s summer gala “Oper für Alle” under the baton of Kirill Petrenko.

Hampson is an honorary professor of Philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. In addition to several Honorary Doctorates, he is the Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France. In 2017 he received the Hugo Wolf Medal, together with Wolfram Rieger. Hampson is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Lied Academy Heidelberg, in 2003 he founded the Hampsong Foundation through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding. His international master class schedule is a continuing online resource of Medici.tv, the Manhattan School of Music, and The Hampsong Foundation livestream channel.