A new and important international assignment has been entrusted to the music director of the Fondazione Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Omer Meir Wellber, who, from September 2025, will also conduct the Staatsoper and the Hamburg Philharmonic in the concert hall of the Elbphilharmonie, famous for its architecture and acoustics. As musical director of the Teatro Massimo from 2020, Wellber will also hold the same position for the Volksoper in Vienna from September 2022.
‘As President of the Fondazione Teatro Massimo,’ says Mayor Roberto Lagalla, ‘I am delighted and proud of the new position that Maestro Omer Meir Wellber will take over at the Hamburg Staatsoper. His talent will continue to contribute to the Teatro Massimo, and this new appointment in another European temple of music also brings prestige to the Foundation”.
“We are very happy about this new recognition for our Music Director,” adds Maestro Marco Betta, Superintendent of the Teatro Massimo. Maestro Omer Meir Wellber, a marvellous musician, is one of the leading conductors and performers in the international field in both the operatic and symphonic repertoire; his talent has made and will continue to make an important contribution to the Foundation’s artistic activities”.
In demand at theatres worldwide, Omer Meir Wellber divides his time between international appearances as a conductor and activities promoting music integration projects in his native Israel. He was the principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and has already conducted the most prestigious musical ensembles, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra National de Lyon, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestra RAI Torino, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Orchestre de Paris.
In 2021, he won the Franco Abbiati special prize awarded by the Associazione Nazionale Critici Musicali (National Association of Music Critics) for his projects at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.