ABOUT
Described as leading with “verve and precision,” as well as “flawless” pacing and “musicality and near-symbiotic accord with singers which always impresses.”
Described by Opera News as conducting “brilliantly” with an “unerring sense of balance, blend, and drama,” conductor Robert Tweten has worked extensively throughout North America and is currently Head of Music Staff for The Santa Fe Opera, and Music Director of Opera Studies for the New England Conservatory.
Robert has served as the Head of Music Staff for The Santa Fe Opera since the position was created for him in 2000. During his tenure there, Tweten has conducted performances of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Katya Kabanova, The Pirates of Penzance, Ermione, the 50th Anniversary Concert, and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and most recently stepped in to conduct three performances of Falstaff in August 2022.
Maestro Tweten has enjoyed a long relationship with Utah Opera/Symphony where he has conducted fifteen productions. Other top American collaborations include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he served for many seasons as an Assistant Conductor and recently conducted Turandot, Kentucky Opera, Dayton Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Birmingham, Opera Southwest, Madison Opera, El Paso Opera, and Sarasota Opera. Tweten has conducted extensively in his native Canada, with productions including: Calgary Opera (Die Zauberflöte, Le nozze di Figaro, Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’italiana in Algeri, Rigoletto, and Otello), Vancouver Opera (Tosca and Il barbiere di Siviglia), Edmonton Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly and Fidelio), Don Giovanni with Opera Ontario, The Gondoliers with UBC Opera, and L’isola disabitata with the Canadian Opera Company. Tweten’s orchestral work includes a number of performances with the New Mexico Philharmonic and the Santa Fe Symphony, as well as the Fresno and San Diego Symphonies.
Tweten began his career as a piano soloist after receiving his Associate of Arts Degree from the Victoria Conservatory of Music and winning numerous competitions, including the Du Maurier Search for Stars and the Canadian National Piano Championship. After working at the Banff Center of Fine Arts, he joined the Houston Grand Opera Studio where he was on the team for the world premiere performances of the Emmy award-winning Nixon in China, and later served as a vocal coach and assistant conductor for the Canadian Opera Company and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Equally at home as a recitalist, collaborator, and chamber musician, he has performed with many of the industry’s most prominent singers and instrumentalists including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Joshua Hopkins, Elizabeth Futral, Catherine Malfitano, Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, Samuel Ramey, Thomas Hampson, Rod Gilfry, Suzanne Mentzer, Rachel Barton Pine, the Taos Chamber Music Group, and the St. Lawrence Quartet in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Salzburg Festival.
In 2017, Tweten joined the New England Conservatory’s opera faculty as Music Director, where he coaches and provides musical guidance for the Graduate Opera Studies Program. During his tenure at NEC, Robert has conducted productions of Later the Same Evening, Le nozze di Figaro, Postcard from Morocco, Il re pastore, La Calisto, Don Pasquale, Dido & Aeneas, An American Dream, and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges.
Tweten’s most recent performances have included conducting Mahagonny Songspiel with Florentine Opera, Don Giovanni with Opera San Antonio, and Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Utah Opera, as well as recitals for Performance Santa Fe’s 2022 Festival of Song with Tamara Wilson, Heidi Melton, Elena Villalón, Nicholas Brownlee, Jack Swanson, and Emily Fons. Robert serves as Music Director and Pianist in October 2022 for the inaugural season of the Sag Harbor Song Festival, which includes recitals with Leah Hawkins, Anna Christy, Sarah Coit, Jonathan Johnson, Jarrett Ott and David Leigh. Upcoming conducting engagements include orchestral concerts with Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra, and a return to Utah Opera to conduct The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
RELEVANT POSITIONS HELD
New England Conservatory
Music Director, Opera Studies (2017 – present)
Santa Fe Opera
Head of Music Staff (1991 – present)
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Assistant Conductor (1993 – 2011, 2016 – 2018)
Canadian Opera Company
Head Coach (1989 – 1993)
Houston Grand Opera Studio / University of Houston
Coach / Pianist (1987 – 1989)
Banff Center for the Fine Arts
Coach / Conductor of Opera and Musical Theater (1983 – 1989)