Walter Kobera, Conductor
Lecturer Prakticum Modern Music
kobera@mdw.ac.at

Walter Kobéra is one of the leading conductors of contemporary music theatre. Through numerous successful premieres and world premieres under his direction, he has had a decisive influence on Vienna's musical life in recent years.

Walter Kobéra has been musical director of the Neue Oper Wien since 1991 and artistic director since 1993. He began studying the violin at the age of seven at the Vienna Conservatory. From 1978, he was a member of the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, also as conductor and musical assistant to Isaac Karabtchevsky and Fabio Luisi. In 1986, he founded the Amadeus Ensemble Vienna, which in recent years has specialised in contemporary music theatre.

His interpretations of Berg's Lulu, Britten's Billy Budd, Lachenmann's Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (The Little Match Girl), Schedl's Triptychon and Peter Eötvös' opera Paradise reloaded (Lilith), dedicated to him, were acclaimed by the press and the public.

Walter Kobéra has enjoyed long-standing artistic collaborations with KangBogen Wien, OsterKlang Wien and the Vienna Festival. From 2005 onwards, he was a regular guest with the Neue Oper Wien at the International Chamber Opera Festival in Zwolle, Netherlands. In 2006, he conducted the first co-production between the Neue Oper Wien and the Bregenz Festival.

He has conducted concerts with Austrian and European symphony orchestras, including the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Hungarian Radio Orchestra Budapest, the Vienna Concert Association and the ensemble "die reihe". In addition to numerous concerts and opera performances, he has also made radio recordings and CD recordings, including Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Verdi's Macbeth, Wolfram Wagner's Endlich Schluss and Richard Dünser's Radek.

At the invitation of the Theater an der Wien, he made the first recording of Iain Bell's song cycle A Hidden Place with Diana Damrau as soloist and, also in 2010, the new production of Kurt Weill's Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins). In July 2011, Walter Kobéra was invited by Péter Eötvös to speak at the renowned Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, where he presented the Neue Oper Wien. In December 2013, the conductor made his debut at the Cologne Opera. Walter Kobéra is a lecturer in modern music at the University of Vienna and a jury member for national and international competitions for singing and musical theatre.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)-17.1.2025