At the turn of the year, Omer Meir Wellber hands over his position as music director of the Volksoper Wien to the British conductor Ben Glassberg.
Wellber, who has only been in office for a year, will be general music director of the Hamburg State Opera and chief conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra from summer 2025 and initially intended to fulfill his contract by the beginning of the 2027/28 season. His reasons are personal, he needs some time to breathe deeply and for private priorities and brought Glassberg, whom he admires very much, to the house. His commitment would have resulted in “a win-win situation” for everyone. Ben Glassberg, born in London in 1994, was chief conductor of the Glyndebourne Tour from 2019 to 2021 and will be music director of the Opéra de Rouen Normandie until 2025/26. He was previously principal guest conductor at the house and conducted the premiere of “The Merry Wives of Windsor”. As Music Director, Glassberg will conduct the premieres of West Side Story and The Merry Widow, as well as performances of La bohème, The Wizard of Oz, Hansel and Gretel and Jolanthe and the Nutcracker. Wellber will remain as guest conductor at the VolksoperWellber will only hand over his responsibilities as music director and remain as guest conductor of the Volksoper and this season, as planned, the new production of “Salome” (premier on September 15) as well as “The Magic Flute”, “La traviata” and He will conduct “Jolanthe and the Nutcracker” as well as orchestral concerts. As a kind of welcome gesture, however, he will hand over the planned premiere of “The Merry Widow” to Glassberg.
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