Gregory Buchalter
Artistic Director and Conductor

Gregory Buchalter is the Artistic Director of Opera Fairbanks where he just conducted a Gala performance celebrating Alaska's 50th anniversary as a state and featuring Vivica Genaux. He has conducted Cenerentola with Opera Fairbanks and next month will lead Tosca with Cynthia Lawrence.

Also Artistic Director of Opera Camerata of Washington, he just conducted Faust with them. He has conducted Salomé at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland with Maria Ewing and Helga Dernesch, Die Fledermaus at the Vienna Volksoper, Mozart's Entfuhrung aus dem Serail at the Spoleto Festival.

He was the first American to conduct with the Kazakstan State Opera; the performances there included a televised Gala concert for the President of Kazakstan. Mr. Buchalter has been Chorus Master of the Santa Fe Opera, the Bregenz Festival in Austria, Theater des Westens in Berlin and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.

He has been a member of the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera for almost 20 years. There he has worked extensively with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and has been Chorus Master at the Met for several productions including the telecast of Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Don Giovanni and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. In addition to working as a cover conductor at the Met, the position of “Maestro di Banda” was created at the MET for him. He has also prepared several world premiers at the MET: John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, Philip Glass’ The Voyage, and John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. In the latter, Mr. Buchalter created the on-stage part of the jazz band conductor.

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