Omer Meir Wellber
Omer Meir Wellber
Omer Meir Wellber has established himself as one of today’s leading conductors of operatic and orchestral repertoire alike. He has been Music Director of the Teatro Massimo Palermo since January 2020 and Artistic Director of the Toscanini Festival since June 2022. By long association, he is also Music Director of the Raanana Symphonette in Israel. As of September 2022, Wellber is the new Music Director of the Volksoper Wien. He has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester zu Leipzig, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Staatskapelle Dresden, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and maintains close ties with other ensembles in his native country of Israel.
Wellber’s longstanding collaboration with the Semperoper Dresden culminated in his position as Principal Guest Conductor from 2018 to 2022. He was appointed Chief Conductor designate of the BBC Philharmonic in 2018 and gave his inaugural concert at the BBC Proms in July 2019.
His close ties to his native Israel are evident in his collaboration with the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, with the orchestra Wellber is particularly committed to music education projects. The conductor also is a Good Will Ambassador for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli-based non-profit organization that provides critical cardiac medical support. In addition, Omer Meir Wellber collaborates with various institutions through outreach programs and fosters the next generation of conducting students through educational lectures.
Wellber made his literary debut with his first novel “Die vier Ohnmachten des Chaim Birkner” published by BerlinVerlag in autumn 2019. The book tells the story of Chaim Birkner, a tired and broken man who is forced by his daughter to face life one last time. In January 2021, the novel was published in Italian by Sellerio Editore and will also be published in French by Éditions du sous-sol.