Robert Tweten
Robert Tweten returns to the New Mexico Philharmonic after conducting the successful opening concert in 2011 and two programs in 2013. A conductor in much demand in the opera world, Maestro Tweten has been described as leading with “verve and precision,” as well as having “flawless” pacing, and having “musicality and near-symbiotic accord with singers which always impresses.”
The 2014-2015 season has found Mo. Tweten performing with a number of companies with which he has had long relationships. He has conducted eight operas for Utah Symphony and Opera, most recently Madama Butterfly. Calgary Opera sees him on the podium for Le nozze di Figaro and this spring he returns to Edmonton Opera for Lucia di Lammermoor.
Other recent engagements include Vancouver Opera, Sarasota Opera, Tulsa Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, and pops concerts with the San Diego Symphony and Fresno Symphony. Maestro Tweten had a long affiliation with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Assistant Conductor as well as having worked for the Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, and Banff Center of Fine Arts. As a Guest Conductor with the Santa Fe Symphony, he has led orchestral concerts as well as Handel’s Messiah and the Mozart Requiem.
Equally at home as a pianist on the concert stage, Robert began his career as a piano soloist after receiving his Associate of Arts Degree from the Victoria Conservatory of Music and winning such competitions as the Du Maurier Search for Stars and the Canadian National Piano Competition. He has performed internationally with many of today’s foremost singers and instrumentalists in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and the Salzburg Festival.
A resident of Santa Fe, this year will mark Robert’s twenty-fifth season with The Santa Fe Opera, where he serves as Head of Music Staff.