Earlier today, the Dallas Opera announced that Emmanuel Villaume will be its new Music Director--only the third conductor to be named to that position in the company's 56-year history.
Maestro Villaume's full, endowed title will read: Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director in Honor of Graeme Jenkins.
"Over the past year, I have actively sought input from a wide variety of sources, both inside and outside Dallas," explained Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny.
"I was delighted to see the intense level of interest in this position from candidates of the highest caliber, many of whom have extraordinarily busy careers conducting at the world's leading opera houses. Having carefully weighed all input, spoken with a number of these candidates and traveled extensively to watch contenders for the position in both rehearsal and performance, I made the decision to appoint French-born conductor Emmanuel Villaume as Music Director of the Dallas Opera."
Emmanuel Villaume has appeared in many of the world's most prestigious--and most important--opera houses, including: Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opéra de Paris; Deutsche Oper Berlin, Madrid's Teatro Real, Venice's Teatro la fenice and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"I am honored to be selected as Music Director of the Dallas Opera and to be a part of such a talented artistic community," said Emmanuel Villaume.
"The Winspear Opera House is one of the most beautiful performing arts venues in the world, and I am excited to be working with the superb orchestra and dedicated staff of the Dallas Opera. I look forward to helping create even more brilliant performances with this impassioned opera company."
After opening Dallas Opera's 2013-2014 season, Villaume returns to Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for performances of Massenet's Manon and then back to Venice's La fenice for performances of L'africaine.
Maestro Villaume maintains a busy schedule of symphonic performances, as well, including concerts with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic.
Recent and upcoming highlights of Villaume's 2012-2013 operatic season include performances of La bohème with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Les contes d'Hoffmann with Bavarian State Opera in Munich and a return to Santa Fe Opera for La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham--who recently starred in the Dallas Opera's 25th Anniversary production of Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers.
In 2012, Maestro Villaume toured throughout Europe in concert performances of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, starring soprano Anna Netrebko, with performances in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris and several other European capitals of music.
He also led Washington National Opera in performances of Werther as well as last summer's well-received production of Georges Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles at Santa Fe.
Villaume remains in demand for symphonic engagements around the world, and he has appeared with the Danish National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony, Spoleto Festival USA, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Stockholm) and the Ruhrtriennale Festival in northwest Germany.
According to Dallas Opera management, Emmanuel Villaume's schedule will include additional engagements not yet announced to the public.
