Karen Kamensek
Biography
Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek’s expansive artistry and deep commitment to championing composers of the 20th and 21st centuries continue to define her work in both the opera house and on the concert stage. The 2025/26 season underscores her remarkable versatility as she leads a diverse array of productions and concerts across the globe.
In the operatic realm, Ms. Kamensek makes a number of important debuts, including at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, conducting Philip Glass’s Akhnaten in a revival of Phelim McDermott’s acclaimed production; at the Opéra national de Paris to lead the Paris Opera Orchestra with Anthony Roth Costanzo at the Palais Garnier, presenting a program that juxtaposes works by Handel and Glass; and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège to conduct a double bill that includes the world premiere of Benoît Mernier’s Bartleby, based on Herman Melville’s short story, and Francis Poulenc’s La Voix humaine, directed by Vincent Boussard. She will also return to the Royal Swedish Opera, where she conducts the Swedish premiere of Elena Langer’s Figaro Gets a Divorce.
This season on the concert stage, Ms. Kamensek makes her debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Choir, conducting a concert performance of Glass’s Akhnaten at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and reaffirming her reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of Philip Glass’s work. Recently appointed the Calgary Philharmonic’s Principal Guest Conductor, she also opens their subscription in this newly-created role and returns later in the year to lead performances of Verdi’s Requiem Additional engagements this season include concerts with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the
National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Kamensek is frequently in demand as a guest conductor with many of today’s most prominent opera companies. Her recent opera highlights include performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Puccini’s Tosca; the English National Opera in Glass’s Akhnaten and Satyagraha; Welsh National Opera in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking and Bernstein’s Candide; the Metropolitan Opera in Glass’s Akhnaten and Verdi’s Rigoletto; the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; the Royal Swedish Opera in Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s Dracula; the Opéra National du Rhin in the world premiere of Glass’s ballet Alice, choreographed by Amir Hosseinpour and Jonathan Lunn; and Bernstein’s Wonderful Town with the Norwegian Opera & Ballet.
Ms. Kamensek’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, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE in Madrid, Colorado Symphony, Norrköping Symphony, Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, Calgary Philharmonic, Tiroler Symphonieorchester, and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, among others.
Ms. Kamensek served as the Music Director of the Staatsoper Hannover from 2011 to 2016. She has also held positions as First Kapellmeister at the Volksoper Wien (2000–2002), Music Director of 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).
**Karen Kamensek’s bio for the 2025/26 season must be used in its entirety unless granted permission by the artist to do otherwise.