Omer Meir Wellber to be new Music Director at Volksoper Wien from September 2022 (December 2020)

As of the start of Lotte de Beer’s period as Director, Omer Meir Wellber is to be Music Director at Volksoper Wien from 1 September 2022. In addition to directing new productions and repertoire performances, for five seasons he will be chiefly responsible for the musical life of the Volksoper and for the development of the ensemble, the orchestra and the chorus. From as early as spring 2021 he will be involved in the preparations for the new directorship.

Lotte de Beer: “I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to acquire Omer Meir Wellber as Music Director of Volksoper Wien from the 2022/23 season,” said the Director designate of the Volksoper, Lotte de Beer. “He is one of the most exciting conductors of our time. His outstanding musicality, together with his forward-looking thinking and sparkling creativity, make him for me the ideal partner to take Volksoper Wien into a new era.”

Omer Meir Wellber: “I am very much looking forward to working with Lotte de Beer as Director. Not only because of her boundless enthusiasm for the new in art, I feel a great bond with her. The fascinating history of Volksoper Wien is both demanding and challenging for me. The company was formed over 120 years ago as a straight (i.e. not specifically musical) theatre by a number of committed Viennese citizens. Under the young Alexander von Zemlinsky as Music Director, in 1908 it made the transition to an opera house, with the first Viennese performances of “Salome” and “Tosca” taking place there. Since then it has been known as the Volksoper. At this point I would like to add that great music will define our performance schedule. And it will be accessible to all citizens of Vienna – as the name indicates, this is an opera house for the people, providing outstanding quality. We are resolved to make the Volksoper one of the most exciting music theatres in Europe.”

More information can be found here.