L A T E S T N E W S

Daniela Candillari has served as Principal Conductor of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis since 2022. Celebrated for her dynamic artistry and insightful leadership, she is equally at home premiering bold new works and interpreting core operatic and symphonic repertoire. Her international career spans major stages across North America and Europe, where she has been praised for performances that combine “confidence and apparently inexhaustible verve” (The New York Times) with “incisive leadership” (The Wall Street Journal).

During the 2024-25 season, Candillari conducted the acclaimed world premiere of This House by Ricky Ian Gordon, Lynn Nottage, and Ruby Aiyo Gerber as part of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 50th anniversary season. She also led the world premiere of Nina Shekhar’s Accordion Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted the East Coast premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s emergency shelter intake form with NOVUS at Trinity Church in New York, and debuted with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

The 2023-24 season brought international attention for Candillari’s leadership of two major world premieres: Rene Orth and Hannah Moscovitch’s 10 Days in a Madhouse at Opera Philadelphia and Jeanine Tesori and George Brant’s Grounded at Washington National Opera. Both productions earned widespread critical acclaim, with 10 Days in a Madhouse receiving the Music Critics Association of North America’s Best New Opera Award and being named the best classical music performance of 2023 by The Washington Post.

Recent seasons have also included her debut with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s inaugural season at David Geffen Hall, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma in Elgar’s Cello Concerto, as well as her Carnegie Hall Presents debut leading the American Composers Orchestra. Other notable engagements have included appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Minnesota Opera, Detroit Opera, Orchestre Métropolitain, Classical Tahoe, and Opera Philadelphia. A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, she has conducted numerous world premieres and interdisciplinary projects, including Clint Borzoni’s The Copper Queen and Ana Sokolović’s Svadba, the latter earning Opera America’s 2023 Award for Digital Excellence in Opera.

As a composer, Candillari has received commissions from musicians of the Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh symphonies, as well as the resident orchestras of Lincoln Center: the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the New York City Ballet. She served as Principal Opera Conductor of Music Academy of the West from 2022 to 2024 and remains a frequent guest artist and educator, leading productions, masterclasses, and discussions at institutions including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, DePaul University, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Valissima Institute.

Born in Serbia and raised in Serbia and Slovenia, Candillari holds a Doctorate in Musicology from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz. A Fulbright Scholar, she is also a recipient of a TED Fellowship.