Announced via Slipped Disc, conductor Janko Kastelic has been appointed Kapellmeister of the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle at the Vienna State Opera. His appointment began on May 1st and includes rehearsing both the Vienna Philharmonic and the choir.
Kastelic was born in Slovenia but raised and trained in Toronto. He started his musical journey at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Choir School as a boy soprano. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music and achieved a BMus at the University of Toronto with a focus on conducting, theory, composition, and piano.
After graduation, Kastelic returned to his native Slovenia to serve as assistant conductor at the Ljubljana Opera House from 1997-1999. In 1999, he conducted at the Opéra National de Paris. In 2002, he won a choral conducting position at the Vienna State Opera, which include running the chorus in the production of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron in 2007. He became Artistic Musical Director of Opera Maribor in 2008 for a four-year appointment.
Kastelic is best known for his love of contemporary music and unusual repertoire, and enjoys educating youth about the diverse world of classical music and opera.
As far as we know, Kastelic may be the first Canadian conductor at the Vienna Opera.
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