
Up Next
August 1 & 2, 2025
Ibert, Britten, Golijov, & Bizet
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera
“Kamensek is experienced in Glass’s operas, and under her the orchestra sounded right at home. There was an excellent balance of instrumental colors—and with the singers—and the playing had focus and equipoise, the kind of warmth one can feel, and it flowed and built a profoundly affecting momentum while always held with a light and certain grip.” – New York Classical Review, 2019
About Karen
Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek’s expansive artistry coupled with her deep commitment for championing composers of the 20th and 21st century is reflected in 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. She makes several important debuts, including Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, conducting Philip Glass’s Akhnaten; Opéra national de Paris to lead the Paris Opera Orchestra 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 and Francis Poulenc’s La Voix humaine. 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. She also opens the Calgary Philharmonic’s subscription season 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.
_JPG.jpg)
Upcoming Performances
Friday, August 1, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Center Festival (New York, NY)
Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Karen Kamensek, conductor
Gabriella Reyes, soprano
Jacques Ibert: Divertissement
Benjamin Britten: Les illuminations
Osvaldo Golijov :Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
Georges Bizet: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Saturday, August 2, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Center Festival (New York, NY)
Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Karen Kamensek, conductor
Gabriella Reyes, soprano
Jacques Ibert: Divertissement
Benjamin Britten: Les illuminations
Osvaldo Golijov :Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
Georges Bizet: Symphony No. 1 in C major


“...Karen Kamensek’s authoritative conducting of the Met orchestra...From the start of the overture, the score bathed the ear in textured sound that conveyed, in its gently shifting luminosity, something of the distance of the archaic.”
The Washington Post, 2019
"Kamensek…deservedly earning the biggest applause of the night during the final curtain.”
Opera Wire, 2019
“...conductor Karen Kamensek weaves everything into a wonderful, ever shifting tapestry of sound.”
Bachtrack, 2016
“Keeping it all under a tight rein was conductor Karen Kamensek, making a most laudable ENO debut. The orchestra clearly found her direction stimulating, as they were on top form throughout.”
Seen and Heard International, 2016
Ms. Kamensek talks with Operabiz Podcast host Daniel Welch about making her Metropolitan Opera conducting debut this season, her road to conducting, her collaboration with Philip Glass, and a largely European career. She shares her insights on Glass' music as well as a fresh perspective on life on the podium.
Images

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg

Photo Credit: Yossi Zwecker

Photo credit: Yossi Zwecker

Photo Credit: Yossi Zwecker

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg

Photo Credit: Benno Hunziker

Photo Credit: Yossi Zwecker

Photo Credit: Benno Hunziker

Photo Credit: Denise Biffar
Contact
For booking information, please contact:
ARSIS Artist Management GmbH
in collaboration with Michael Lewin International
Mag. Gabriele Fauchet
Managing Director
+ 43 699 1075 4898
Kramergasse 9/3, 1010 Vienna, Austria
For public relations inquiries, please contact:
Raechel Alexander
RA Communications