Guillermo García Calvo has been working as répétiteur for soloists at the Vienna State Opera since November 2003. In the 2007/08 Season he has conducted a number of ballet performances. After his debut with Coppélia in October 2007 the Austrian newspaper Wiener Kronen Zeitung praised his vitality and good taste while respecting the dancers’ needs. He has conducted over 60 performances of children’s opera and has been responsible for the musical preparation of more than 50 operas in the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera.

Born in Madrid in 1978 Guillermo began his musical education at the age of seven. He concluded his musical studies at the University of Music in Vienna with a thesis on Parsifal and a performance of the Overture from Tannhäuser in the Großer Saal (Great hall) at the Wiener Musikverein. Between 2001 and 2002 he worked as assistant for Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, during this time he was also the conductor for the student’s orchestra “Ciudad de Lucena” in Córdoba. In March 2003 he celebrated his debut as opera conductor with a performance of Hansel and Gretel at the Schlosstheater, Schoenbrunn.

On the occasion of the city of Oviedo’s third summer festival, in August 2006, Guillermo was invited by Friedrich Haider to conduct the Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Oviedo at the Teatro Campoamor. Cosme Marina wrote in the Spanish newspaper La Nueva España “The young Spanish conductor Guillermo surprised with his debut, showing profound knowledge of the works, a firm control of the orchestra and a lucid interpretation of the programme. A discovery.” In March 2007 he conducted the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra for a CD recording including works by W.A. Mozart and Leopold Mozart. Consequently he has been invited by the same orchestra to conduct three concerts in October 2008.

During the Bayreuth festival in 2007 he worked with Christian Thielemann as his musical assistant for the reprise of the Ring des Nibelungen. In July of the same year as part of a programme patronized by Patrimonio Nacional he conducted a programme of Beethoven works including two piano concerts and the 8th symphony with the Symphonic Orchestra of Sofia in El Escorial, Madrid.

In January 2008 Guillermo conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra of Las Palmas, presenting four overtures by Mendelssohn on the occasion of nine concerts for students.
Future engagements include conducting two piano concerts and two symphonies by Brahms in July 2008 at La Granja de San Ildefonso. In November 2008 Guillermo García Calvo will conduct the premiere of The Nutcracker and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Vienna Volksoper. He is also scheduled to conduct two performances of Mayerling, a new ballet with music composed by Liszt, two of Anna Karenina and six performances of The Nutcracker at the Vienna State Opera.