Omer Meir Wellber

Born in 1981, Omer Meir Wellber is emerging as one of Israel's most talented young conductors today. He is the Music Director at the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, and the new Music Director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia for the period 2011-2014.

He began his musical education on the age of five. He plays the accordion and the piano. He began his composition learning with Mrs. Tania Teler at the age of 10 and was introduced to the Israeli composer Michael Wolpe, who became his composition teacher until 2004. In 1999 he graduated from the Beer Sheva Conservatory. Since then his music has been performed around Israel and abroad in Orchestras, Ensembles and radio broadcasts.

Omer Meir Wellber graduated in Prof. Mendi Rodan’s program at the Jerusalem Music Academy where he had at first studied with prof. Eugene Zirlin.
He performed with the Israeli Sinfonietta, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Le’Zion. He conducted approximately ten Premiers of Israeli and modern music.

The Israeli Sinfonietta performed his Suite for Strings Orchestra, Bassoon and Clarinet, Piano Concerto no. 1, and his Mandolin Concerto. In the field of Chamber Music, his music was performed by several ensembles including Kaprisma who performed Wellber's Music for Ten Instruments during their European tour, Musica Nuova who performed his Oboe Quintet The Last Leaf and Amber Trio-Vienna with whom he performed playing the accordion in his own Piano Trio and Accordion.

In December 2004, Wellber conducted the world premiere of his Viola Concerto which was dedicated and performed by Amichai Grosz-Viola (The Jerusalem Quartet) and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. For the past five years, Wellber has received the full scholarship for excelled musicians from the America – Israel Cultural Foundation.

Since 2005, Wellber has been conducting regurarly at the Israeli Opera, where he conducted, among others, La Traviata, La forza del destino, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, La Gioconda, L'elisir D'amore, Il Trovatore and Cosi fan tutte.

In February 2007, Wellber conducted a Gala concert in Beijing, China, with the Bejing Philharmonic Orchestra.

In October 2008, he conducted the production of Aida at Teatro Verdi in Padova. In the same year, he was chosen as one of 2008 international surprise artists by Classic Voice magazine.

Between 2008 and 2010, Wellber was the assistant of M° Daniel Barenboim, both at Staatsoper Berlin and at Teatro Alla Scala. He conducted Aida with Orchestra della Scala at Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv in their historic tour to Israel, obtaining a big personal success of public and critic.

He conducted Carmen at Berlin Staatsoper, his debut concert at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, a concert at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Salome at Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto to great acclaim, a new production of Daphne at Semperoper in Dresden, Tosca at Berlin Staatsoper, symphonic concerts at La Fenice in Venice.

In the last seasons he conducted Aida, Eugene Onegin, Elisir d’amore, Boris Godunov, La vida breve-El amor brujo and Tosca in Valencia, Tosca and Aida at La Scala, Rigoletto and La Traviataat Wiener Festwochen, Tosca at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, La Traviata at Berlin Staatsoper, Carmen and L'elisir d'amore in Venice and La Traviata at Bayerische Staatsoper.

As to the symphonic concerts, he has been conducting in Paris with Orchestre de Paris, in Milan with Filarmonica della Scala, in Tel Aviv with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, in Turin with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, in Frankfurt with HR Radio Frankfurt, in Venice with Orchestra della Fenice, in Hannover with NDR, in Berlin with DSO, in Palermo with Orchestra del Teatro Massimo, in Firenze with Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Most recently, he conducted Rigoletto in Valencia.

Future engagements include: Macbeth in Verona, a new production of Trovatore at Wiener Festwochen, a new production of Euryanthe in Frankfurt, I due Foscari and Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Valencia, Otello in Tel Aviv, Aida at Arena di Verona, a Mozart-Da Ponte three-year project in Dresden (Così Fan Tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni), as well as symphonic concerts with Orchestra del Santa Cecilia and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.