Cape Town Opera (CTO) has announced the appointment of maestro Adam Szmidt (pictured left) as the company’s Resident Conductor and Head Vocal Coach.
With recent engagements at the opera houses of Heidelberg, Halberstadt, Schwerin and Bonn, Adam is delighted to be joining Cape Town Opera in what promises to be another dynamic year for Africa’s premier opera company. “I am incredibly excited to work with this immense talent, energy and creativity this company and country has to offer,” he said. “My work at CTO is very comprehensive and hence fulfilling; it goes from conducting the big productions to rehearsing with singers and répétiteurs and being involved in the artistic and strategic processes.”
Szmidt made his debut conducting the Northern Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in one of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe- the Smetana Hall in Prague. He has since conducted orchestras such as Rhein-Main-Philhamoniker, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali Milano, National Radio Orchestra Bukarest, Nuernberger Symphoniker, The New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Festival Orchestra, Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra Constanta, Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, Savaria Symphony Orchestra Hungary, and Westboehmisches Symphonieorchester Bad Marienbad. Succeeding Gregor Mayrhofer as Principal Conductor, he led the German National Academic Foundation Orchestra North Rhine-Westphalia in the season 2017/18.
Says Alex Gabriel, the Managing Director of Cape Town Opera, “We are thrilled to welcome Adam – with his exceptional talent, vast experience and passion for music and teaching, we are confident that he will inspire our incredible singers, and the company itself, to reach new heights. We look forward to the invaluable contributions he will make to our company.”
Performed on all six continents
Szmidt studied orchestra and choral conducting at the University of Performing Arts Graz, Austria, under Johannes Prinz and Wolfgang Doerner and at the Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts in Nuremberg under Prof. Guido Rumstadt, assisting him with the production Drei Wasserspiele at Stadttheater Fuerth. His studies were supported by The German National Academic Foundation, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and the DAAD. He participated in master classes with Neeme Jarvi, Paavo Jarvi, Leonid Grin, Ben Zander, Nicolas Pasquet, and Jorma Panula.
In Papua New Guinea, he performed at the National Education Conference and for the President during his civil service. He continued this engagement by working with music programs for social change in Colombia, Brazil, and India. As pianist, he was a laureate of the Stuttgarter Matthaes-Wettbewerb and the National German Youth Competition.
Beyond having conducted and performed on all six continents, Adamalso dedicates himself to teaching: in 2018 and 2019, he gave master classes for conductors and singers in Edmonton, Canada, and at the South African Universities of Stellenbosch and Potchefstroom. Mr, Szmidt has conducted world-premieres like the Musical Shadows in Red Light in Cape Town or the Piano Concerto op. 44 by Matthias Hutter.
Coming up: Adam will conduct Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Paarl Toringkerk on Sunday 8 April 2023 at 4pm and then the first major Cape Town Opera for 2023- Bizet’s Pearl Fishers – that will be presented at the Artscape Theatre from 10 to 14 May 2023.
The opera, directed by Elisabeth Manduell, features an all-South African including guest artist and 2017 Operalia winner Levy Sekgapane alongside Cape Town Opera Soloists Conroy Scott and Brittany Smith, and the Cape Town Opera Chorus. Tickets for Stabat Mater and The Pearl Fishers are available through Quicket and Computicket respectively.
WS
