Bertrand de Billy appointed honorary member

After the acclaimed performance of Les contes d'Hoffmann yesterday, Sunday, December 22, 2024, conductor Bertrand de Billy was appointed an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera on the open stage in front of the audience, in the presence of the evening's soloists, including John Osborn, Serena Sáenz, Nicole Car, Alex Esposito and colleagues from a wide variety of groups at the opera house. The French conductor has been closely associated with the opera house on the Ring for almost 30 years.

The laudatory speech was held by State Opera Director Bogdan Roščić, the certificate was presented by Christian Kircher, Managing Director of Bundestheater-Holding, and Bertrand de Billy also received the Vienna State Opera Ring of Honor from Juwelier Wagner.

Bogdan Roščić, Director of the Vienna State Opera: "Honorary membership is the highest award that the Vienna State Opera can bestow. With it, we honor artists who have helped shape the house with a special bond, as Bertrand de Billy has done over the past almost 30 years. It was a great pleasure for me to be able to present him with this honor on the evening of his 280th conducting engagement at Haus am Ring - many more will follow."

Christian Kircher, Managing Director of Bundestheater-Holding: "With this honorary membership, the Vienna State Opera is paying tribute to a conductor of special stature. Bertrand de Billy has left his mark on Viennese musical life at many venues with works from all musical eras. The honorary membership of the Vienna State Opera is a sign of special appreciation for his work at the State Opera. We thank Bertrand de Billy for this solidarity."

Bertrand de Billy, Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera: "When I came to Vienna for the first time 30 years ago, I could not possibly have imagined the importance this city would have for my future life in every respect. Even less could I have imagined when - with considerable nervousness - I was allowed to enter the orchestra pit of the Vienna State Opera for the first time on January 13, 1997, that now, almost three decades later, I can say that the Vienna State Opera has become my artistic home. Having had the opportunity to work at almost every major opera house in the world in the course of my professional life, I know with even greater certainty: a comparable house, comparable staff in all areas, the chorus and, above all, this orchestra that can't be compared to anything or anyone else - that can only be found here. There is not an evening that I have had the privilege of conducting here that I have not entered the orchestra pit with the awareness that it is something special to be able to work here. The fact that I have now been awarded honorary membership of this wonderful house is the greatest honor I can imagine in my life and I am infinitely grateful for it."

Bertrand de Billy is one of the most important conductors both on the opera stage and on the concert platform. His broad repertoire ranges from Bach to numerous premieres and first performances. He was 1st Kapellmeister and deputy GMD at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau and the Volksoper Vienna, chief conductor of the Liceu and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Engagements have taken him to opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and the Salzburg Festival, among others. He has also made guest appearances worldwide with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1997 and most recently conducted Spontini's La Vestale at the Paris Opéra, Thomas' Hamlet at the Salzburg Festival and Nabucco at the Berlin State Opera. Bertrand de Billy conducts Die Fledermaus at the Vienna State Opera in December/January and returns in the spring with Werther.