Mexican-born conductor Roberto Kalb is the newly-appointed Music Director of Detroit Opera. He made multiple debuts in the 2022-2023 season, including with the San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
The 2023-2024 season includes further debuts with Santa Fe Opera conducting L’elisir d’amore, with Atlanta Opera where he conducts Rigoletto, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In Detroit, Roberto makes his inaugural debut as Music Director of Detroit Opera, conducting The Cunning Little Vixen. He will also conduct an Arias and Overtures Gala in Detroit, and returns to Lyric Opera of Kansas City to conduct Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci.
Highlights from the 2022-2023 season included performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, San Diego Opera, and San Francisco Opera. In 2019, Kalb concluded his five-season tenure as resident conductor and head of music at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with a critically acclaimed run of Rigoletto in collaboration with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which Opera News lauded: “The orchestra sounded sublime under the baton of Roberto Kalb, whose buoyant conducting simultaneously led and followed the singers.”
Roberto has an impressive repertoire of performances with various renowned opera companies. These include the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, Florida Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Maine, and Tulsa Opera. Additionally, he has conducted performances with the Orquesta Carlos Chavez in Mexico City and the Orquestra Sinfonica da USP in São Paulo. Roberto’s experience also extends to his previous work as a cover and assistant conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, as well as performances with the National Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Louisville Orchestra.
In 2021, Roberto was awarded the prestigious Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is married to soprano, Mane Galoyan.
November 2023
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
