When
Ian Campbell took over the reins of San Diego Opera in 1983, he encouraged
Karen Keltner to accept conducting engagements outside of San Diego. She has
done so, to much acclaim, broadening her repertoire to include the beloved
operettas and Broadway musicals of her youth.
Her most recent US debut was at the Washington Opera in DC where she conducted
"Of Mice and Men" in October 2001. In December, she made her European
debut conducting the European premiere of "A Streetcar Named Desire"
at the L'Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France.
In recent years, she debuted at Anchorage, Chautauqua, Cincinnati, Opera Columbus,
the Eastman School of Music, Glimmerglass, Manitoba, Nashville, the New York
City Opera, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Seattle, and Utah Opera.
She appears regularly at Opera Carolina and the Utah Festival Opera Company.
The first woman to conduct at both the Pittsburgh and Seattle Opera, Keltner
continues to break new ground, opening doors for women in this still largely
male dominated profession.
OF MICE AND MEN by Carlisle Floyd
"Conductor Karen Keltner leads the Utah Symphony in a passionate, colorful
performance."
- Catherine Reese Newton, The Salt Lake Tribune 1/18/99
RIGOLETTO by Giuseppe Verdi
"The performance, marking the opening of the company's 37th season, was
enriched by the abilities of the guest conductor Karen Keltner..."
- Patricia Tegtmeier, Anchorage Daily News, 11/14/1999
AIDA by Giuseppe Verdi
"An enlarged Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, under the able baton of Karen
Keltner, was superb in this, a most difficult and dematic operatic score."
- David Abrams, Syracuse Herald-Journal 10/30/1999
LA BOHEME by Giacomo Puccini
"The orchestra, conducted by Karen Keltner, performed quite well in a
performance ripe with nuance and attention to details of orchestration."
- Robert Workman, Winston-Salem Journal 10/2/1999
(See also Keltner debut at the New York City Opera.)
MADAMA BUTTERFLY by Giacomo Puccini
"Holding the entire work together was conductor Karen Keltner, whose
careful sense of pace in the important arias was augmented by her overall
grasp of Puccini's through-composed structure. She led a fine orchestral effort
by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra players."
- Winnipeg Free Press, 11/10/98
GIANNI SCHICCHI
"...and with conductor Karen Keltner coaxing warm, nuanced, surging music
from the orchestra, the duet soars with emotion."
-Mark Stryker, Dayton Daily News 12/5/93
HELEN OF TROY
"Karen Keltner led members of the Utah Symphony in attractive, never-overbearing
accompaniment."
- Catherine Reese The Salt Lake Tribune 5/17/93
"Karen Keltner conducts the singers and Utah Symphony with unfailing
fidelity to the genre."
- Dorothy Stowe Deseret News 5/17/93
OPERETTAS & BROADWAY MUSICALS
"I grew up doing operettas in
high school - all sorts of Gilbert and Sullivan... I'm guilty of understimating
Gilbert and Sullivan operas - you know the British call them 'operas.' Operetta
is for Viennese things like 'Die Fledermaus.' Sullivan's music is often taken
for granted. I always remember that Sullivan, in spite of his Irish name,
had an Italian mother, so he gets the gift of melody from several directions.
Sullivan's music is a perfect combination of light, brilliantly conceived
orchestration to accompany the singing, and dense stuff like the finale of
Act 2 and the escape of prisoners. I hate to sound Pollyanna-ish, but Sullivan's
music is about civility and good manners, something we think less of than
the Edwardians did. It's a big chorus show..."
- Karen Keltner
THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD by Gilbert and Sullivan [Glimmerglass Opera]
"Karen Keltner's conducting helped make some of the small ensembles particularly
affecting."
- Heidi Waleson, WSJ 8/1/95
"Karen Keltner conducted a musically supple performance."
-Anthony Tommasini - NY Times, 7/26/95
CAROUSEL
"The star of UFOC's production of Rodger's and Hammerstein's greatest
triumph is the large pit orchestra, under the able direction of Karen Keltner.
It sounded like they had squeezed an entire symphony orchestra under the stage."
- Deseret News, 7/20-21/1999
"And it is served up with gusto and theatrical flair by this company,
under the skilled leadership of Karen Keltner."
- William S. Goodfellow, Salt Lake Observer Jul 30-Aug 12,
1999
I DO! I DO!
"...and Karen Keltner, by now a familiar face at the Utah Festival, brought
years of experience, impressive professional credentials and an intimate knowledge
of this show to her conducting of the opera orchestra company."
- The Herald Journal, Logan Utah 7/20/99
Photo:© Ken Howard
A
DETAILED KELTNER BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
| FRONT PAGE | PROFILE | AT WORK | RECENT WORKS | ACCLAIM | REPERTOIRE | PRESS RELEASES |
 STORE |
HOME | about FANFAIRE | AUDIOFILES | NEW RELEASES | SITE MAP |
| FOOD & MUSIC | MUSICPLANNER | AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE | PRESS ROOM | EMAIL UPDATE | |
|
Design and Original Content: FanFaire LLC © 1997-2008. All rights reserved. |
|||||