Contract Extension: Detroit Opera Music Director Roberto Kalb to Stay Through 2030

Roberto Kalb, Detroit Opera Music Director, recently received a Four-Year Extension.

DETROIT – Detroit Opera President and CEO Patty Isacson Sabee and the

Detroit Opera Board of Directors have announced that Roberto Kalb’s contract as Music

Director has been extended four years. His current contract began in November 2022 and

runs through June 30, 2026. The new contract runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30,

2030. In addition to his current duties conducting operas and overseeing the Detroit

Opera Orchestra and Chorus, he will have an increased role in artistic planning and in

implementing the next two curated seasons centering on themes established by Artistic

Director Yuval Sharon: “Faith” in the 2026–27 season and “Sustainability” in 2027–28,

using opera to lead conversations locally and nationally about critical issues of our time.

“Roberto is a fast-rising star on the national and international opera podium. " -- President/CEO Patty Isacson Sabee

"He is a tremendous colleague, instrumental in the musical and artistic growth of Detroit Opera,” Sabee continued. “He is an extraordinarily strong leader of our musical forces—the musicians love him, audiences respond to him, and the results are being celebrated both in Detroit and in the national critical press. We are fortunate to have Roberto with us for another four years, and we welcome his increased musical and artistic input as we implement the coming seasons’ programming and plan for our future."

"Detroiters are deeply proud of their history, their identity, their teams, their culture, and of course, their music,” says Music Director Roberto Kalb.

“That pride makes creating opera here incredibly dynamic. We have one of the most engaged audiences anywhere, from longtime opera lovers who have been with our company for decades to people discovering opera for the very first time. Every performance feels electric. I’m honored that my family and I call Metro Detroit home, and I’m excited for the next four years of making art and continuing to grow alongside this extraordinary community."

Kalb, born in Mexico and now living in Michigan, is only the second Music Director in the

company’s history, succeeding Detroit Opera’s late founder David DiChiera. Before being

named Music Director, Kalb made his company debut in 2018 conducting Ricky Ian

Gordon’s 27 and returned in 2022 to lead Yuval Sharon’s production of La bohème. This

season he makes several important debuts, including at the Metropolitan Opera,

conducting La bohème; at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo

Cruz’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego; and his German debut, conducting Staatsoper

Stuttgart’s Carmen. Other highlights include his returns to Atlanta Opera for

Götterdämmerung and to Santa Fe Opera for the U.S. premiere of Tobias Picker’s opera Lili

Elbe; a double bill of William Grant Still's Highway 1 U.S.A. and Kurt Weill's Down in the

Valley with Detroit Opera; and Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. In

2024–25, he led performances of West Side Story for his debut with Houston Grand Opera,

Siegfried with Atlanta Opera, and La traviata and Rinaldo with Detroit Opera. He also made

his debut at the Britt Festival, with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, and led

the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in concert with Sir Bryn Terfel. In 2021, Roberto was

awarded a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. He holds degrees from the

University of Michigan and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is married to

soprano Mané Galoyan; he and his family reside in Metro Detroit.

Kalb is known for his dynamic and sensitive conducting of both masterworks and

contemporary repertoire. Reviewing Wolf Trap Opera’s La traviata, Washington Classical Review wrote, “Kalb elicited a responsive and colorful performance … drawing an impressive degree of alertness, detailing and balance.”

Describing Lyric Opera of Chicago’s recent production of El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, Chicago Classical Review wrote, “Kalb led a firmly focused performance that moved with strong momentum while

relaxing fluently into the more dreamy, impressionistic scenes. The conductor’s balancing was most impressive, allowing all of Frank’s kaleidoscopic scoring and varied hues and instrumental timbres to make audible impact.”

Conducting Santa Fe Opera’s Elisir d’Amore,

“Roberto Kalb helped reorient attention to the delights of Donizetti’s score through his

sensitive rapport with the orchestra and singers.” (Bachtrack).

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