Guillermo García Calvo
In the 2008/09 Season Guillermo García Calvo has conducted a number of opera and ballet performances and concerts at the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) and the Volksoper Vienna (Wiener Volksoper), as well as in Santiago de Compostela, Madrid and Ljubljana. His interpretations of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (June, Sept-Nov 2008 at the Volksoper Vienna) and THE NUTCRACKER (première in November 2008 at the Volksoper Vienna, transferred to the Vienna State Opera in December 2008/January 2009, reprise in June 2009) were widely acclaimed by the public. Further engagements during the 2008/09 Season include THE FIREBIRD (Santiago de Compostela), ANNA KARENINA, MAYERLING (Vienna State Opera) and M° García Calvo’s debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with the première of LA CENERENTOLA (May/June 2009).

Guillermo García Calvo has always maintained a strong relation with the Vienna State Opera ever since he started working there in November 2003. He was responsible for numerous productions of opera for children such as TRAUMFRESSERCHEN (2004), ALADDIN AND THE ENCHANTED LAMP (2005), BASTIEN ET BASTIENNE (2006), OMAMA IM APFELBAUM (The grandma in the apple tree) (2007). Since October 2007 M° García Calvo has conducted performances of ballets such as COPPELIA, MAYERLING and THE NUTCRACKER. After his debut with COPPELIA in October 2007 the Austrian newspaper Wiener Kronen Zeitung praised his exemplary manner of conducting, his vitality and good taste while respecting the dancers’ needs. Up to now, M° García Calvo 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 García Calvo 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.”

M° García Calvo regularly works with renowned orchestras such as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (CD recording and concerts, March 2007/October 2008), the Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester (production of DIE FLEDERMAUS (The Bat) at the Wiener Konzerthaus, June 2008), Symphonic Orchestra of Sofia (concerts, July 2007), Philharmonic Orchestra of Las Palmas (concerts, January 2008), Symphonic Orchestra of Galicia (THE FIREBIRD, March 2009), Orchestra of the Spanish Radio and Television RTVE (concerts, April 2009). During the Bayreuth festival in 2007 he worked with Christian Thielemann as his musical assistant for the reprise of the Ring des Nibelungen. M° García Calvo has also performed at El Escorial in Madrid, at the Tonhalle Ljubljana, the Wiener Konzerthaus, and La Granja de San Ildefonso.

Future highlights include performances of THE MAGIC FLUTE, SWAN LAKE, THE NUTCRACKER and the world première of PÜNKTCHEN UND ANTON by Iván Eröd at the Vienna State Opera, THE NUTCRACKER and a ballet gala at the Volksoper Vienna, as well as the productions of LA CENERENTOLA and THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.