Jonathan Brandani is Artistic Director of Calgary Opera (Canada).

Recent and upcoming engagements include opera productions and concert appearances at Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Il Barbiere di Siviglia 2024), Calgary Opera (Das Rheingold 2024, Macbeth and Le Nozze di Figaro 2023), The Atlanta Opera (La Bohème 2024), with Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg (2024), at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria (with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Symphonieorchester Voralberg), Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Italy), Göteborg Opera (Sweden), Teatro Nuovo (New York), the Danish Royal Opera House Copenhagen (with soprano Angela Gheorghiu), Staatestheater Meiningen (with Meininger Hofkapelle).

In recent seasons he has conducted at Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Italy), Théatre Royal de Wallonie-Liège (Belgium), Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini in Parma (Italy), Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf (Germany), Palau de les Arts in Valencia (Spain), Wexford Festival Opera (Ireland), Donizetti Festival in Bergamo (Italy).

From 2014 to 2019 he has been Associate Conductor of Minnesota Opera (USA), and from 2017 to 2020 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of Daegu Opera House (South Korea), where he made his Asian debut in 2017. His performances of Aida at the 15th Daegu International Opera Festival were hailed with such enthusiasm that they earned him the Grand Prix, the most prestigious award given by the Festival for artistic merits.

Since its establishment, he has collaborated with Teatro Nuovo, a Belcanto festival on period instruments based in New York, where he conducted Mayr’s Medea in Corinto and Ricci brothers’ Crispino e la Comare.

In 2018 he made his debut at Wexford Festival Opera (Ireland) conducting Mercadante’s Il Bravo (whose score he had previously restored and co-edited). His interpretation of this hidden Bel Canto gem was awarded as Best Opera Production by the Irish Times; the production is now available on demand on ARTE.

He recently published a paper for the prestigious Fondazione Cini on his findings on a last version of «Napoli Milionaria» and Nino Rota’s revision process after the Spoleto World Première, whose production he conducted at Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Teatro del Giglio in Lucca and Teatro Goldoni in Livorno (Italy) in 2021/2022.

After his degree in Piano, Jonathan graduated in Conducting with full marks and honor at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna; he also earned a Master of Arts in Orchestra Conducting from Yale University. He is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera.