Music Director Antony Walker receives 5-year contract extension
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Pittsburgh Opera announces 5-year contract extension with Music Director Antony Walker
Pittsburgh Opera is pleased to announce that Music Director Antony Walker has signed a five-year contract extension with the company. The extension keeps Walker on Pittsburgh Opera’s podium through June 2029.
Maestro Walker first conducted for Pittsburgh Opera in their 2004 production of It Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria. Since then, he has conducted over 250 Pittsburgh Opera performances spanning more than 50 operas.
Walker also serves as Artistic Director of Washington Concert Opera in Washington D.C., and Conductor Emeritus of Pinchgut Opera in Australia, which he co-founded in 2000. He was Music Director of both the period instrument ensemble Orchestra of the Antipodes and it’s professional chorus Cantillation, from 2000–2016, Chorus Master and Staff Conductor for Welsh National Opera from 1998–2002, and Musical Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs from 1992–1997.
His extraordinary career includes engagements with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Australia, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opera di Firenze (Florence), Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, Teatro Comunale Bologna, North Carolina Opera, The Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Orchestre Colonne (Paris), Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Vancouver Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Opera House Orchestra.
“Antony is one of the very best in the business,” says Pittsburgh Opera Board Chair Michele Fabrizi. “His virtuosity has taken our orchestra to new heights; he is a key part of why Pittsburgh Opera continues to be one of the most respected opera companies in the country. We are delighted to have Antony with us for at least five more years.”
“Being Pittsburgh Opera’s Music Director is a great honor,” says Walker. “Our orchestra, chorus, Resident Artist program and Music Staff are among the finest anywhere. In addition, we have a first-class rehearsal and administrative facilty in the Bitz Opera Factory, and the Benedum Center is a superb venue for our MainStage productions. I am proud of all we’ve accomplished, have great affection for our community, and am excited for the next five seasons.”
In Pittsburgh Opera’s upcoming 2024-25 season, Walker will conduct Tosca, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, and Madama Butterfly, all at the Benedum Center, Pittsburgh Opera’s first production of Haydn’s Armida, and the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Woman With Eyes Closed.
