Keri-Lynn Wilson is the founder and Music Director of the highly regarded Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, which has toured major cities and festivals of Europe and the United States over the past two summers. It was formed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a staunch supporter of Ukrainian liberty, Ms. Wilson performed the Verdi Requiem at the Lviv Opera House last February to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the invasion. She will return to Lviv this December to perform the Beethoven Ninth Symphony with a new performance version of the “Ode to Joy” in Ukrainian that she created for the most recent tour of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra. In this version, “Joy” is changed to “Slava,” the Ukrainian word for “Glory,” the rallying cry for Ukrainian victory. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s recording of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, conducted by Maestro Wilson, was released by Deutsche Grammophon to commemorate the second anniversary of the invasion. The orchestra will embark on its Beethoven Ninth Freedom Tour of leading cities this summer.
Ms. Wilson’s career as a conductor of opera and symphonic music includes many of the world’s leading opera houses and symphony orchestras. Among the opera companies she has conducted most recently are the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera. Orchestras she has conducted in recent seasons include the NHK Symphony, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz.
Highlights of Ms. Wilson’s 2023/24 season include her house debut at Opéra national de Paris, conducting Cendrillon, a return to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to conduct La bohème, and Janáček’s Jenůfa with the English National Opera. She will also be conducting the Sinfonieorchester of Theater St. Gallen, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, and the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. And in July Ms. Wilson and the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will tour Europe and the United States.
Over a rich and varied career, Ms. Wilson has conducted, amongst many other orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Hessische Staatsorchester Wiesbaden, the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, the Wrocław Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the RAI Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Orchestre national d'Ile de France, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Toronto Symphony and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.
Ms. Wilson’s career operatic highlights include Carmen and La Traviata at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La Traviata at the Wiener Staatsoper, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Metropolitan Opera, Salome at Houston Grand Opera La Traviata, Madama Butterfly and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and La Traviata at the Opernhaus Zürich, Don Carlo, Iolanta, Manon Lescaut, Carmen, Tosca, and La traviata at the Bolshoi Theatre, La Fanciulla del West and Aïda at the English National Opera, Rusalka at the Czech National Opera, Rigoletto at the Norwegian National Opera, Der Fliegende Holländer, Carmina Burana, Boris Godunov, and Carmen at the Polish National Opera, Faust at the Washington National Opera, Pique Dame and Tosca at the Latvian National Opera and Madama Butterfly at the Canadian Opera Company. She was the first female conductor to lead an opera at: the Arena di Verona, where she conducted Tosca and Madama Butterfly; the New National Theatre (NNT) Tokyo, where she led Madama Butterfly; and the Opera di Roma, where she conducted Aïda.
Of partial Ukrainian descent, Ms. Wilson was raised in Winnipeg, Canada, home of North America’s most concentrated Ukrainian population, where she studied flute, piano, and violin from an early age. While still a student at Juilliard, she assisted Claudio Abbado at the Salzburg Festival, and won a fellowship from the Tanglewood Music Center. Upon graduating from Juilliard with a masters both in flute and conducting, she was named the Associate Conductor at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICAN ENGAGEMENTS
The Metropolitan Opera - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Washington National Opera- Turandot, Faust
Los Angeles Opera - La Rondine
Houston Grand Opera - Salome
Canadian Opera Company- Tosca, Madama Butterfly
Montreal Opera- La Fanciulla del West, Simon Boccanegra, The Flying Dutchman, Otello
Teatro Colón - Tosca
Juilliard Opera - Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi / L'Heure Espagnole, Les Mamelles de Tirésias / Der Kaiser Von Atlantis
San Francisco Symphony
Seattle Symphony
Ravinia Festival Orchestra
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Houston Symphony
Saint Louis Symphony
Cincinnati Symphony
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
San Antonio Symphony
Denver Symphony
Phoenix Symphony
Indianapolis Symphony
Utah Symphony
Buffalo Philharmonic
New Jersey Symphony
Puerto Rico Symphony
Honolulu Symphony
Toronto Symphony
Montreal Symphony
National Arts Center Orchestra
Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal
Quebec Symphony
Laval Symphony
Winnipeg Symphony
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Edmonton Symphony
Calgary Philharmonic
Vancouver Symphony
CBC Radio Orchestra of Vancouver
Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra
EUROPEAN OPERATIC ENGAGEMENTS
Royal Opera House, London- Carmen, La Traviata, La Bohème
Bayerische Staatsoper - La Traviata, Tosca, Madama Butterfly
Opéra national de Paris - Cendrillon
Deutsche Oper - Madama Butterfly
Leipzig Opera- Madama Butterfly
NDR Televised Open Air Opera- La Bohème, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci
Audi Summer Festival, Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra- Romeo and Juliette
Schleswig Holstein Festival, NDR Hannover Orchestra- Turandot
Erfurt Opera- Lucia di Lammermoor
Vienna State Opera- Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata
Arena di Verona- Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Vedova Allegra
Puccini Festival- Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Turandot, Tosca
Taormina Festival- Cavalleria Rusticana
Rome Opera- Aida
Parma Opera- Rigoletto
Palermo Opera- Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, La Fille du Regiment
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino- Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Torino Opera- Lucia di Lammermoor
Trieste Opera- La Cenerentola
Bari Opera- Otello, Werther, L'Elisir d'Amore
Fondazione Toscanini, Teatro Verdi, Bussetto- Rigoletto
Ancona Opera- Lucia di Lammermoor
Valencia Opera- L'Elisir d'Amore
Bilbao Opera- La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Anna Bolena, La Traviata
Sinfonia Galicia, La Coruna- Nabucco, Attila, Il Trovatore
Zurich Opera- Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, La Traviata
English National Opera- La Fanciulla del West, Aida, Jenufa
Opera de Nice- Otello
Norwegian Opera- Tosca
Royal Swedish Opera- Pique Dame, Il Ballo in Maschera
Mariinsky Theater- Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor, Hansel and Gretel, La Traviata
Bolshoi Opera- Don Carlo, Iolanta, Tosca, La Bohème, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Traviata, Carmen
National Opera of Ukraine- Manon Lescaut, Turandot
Astana Opera- Aida, La Traviata
Polish National Opera- Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, The Flying Dutchman, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen
Bucharest National Opera- Eugene Onegin, Manon Lescaut, Tosca
Cluj Napoca Opera- Tannhauser, The Flying Dutchman
Czech National Opera - Rusalka
EUROPEAN SYMPHONIC ENGAGEMENTS
BBC Proms
NDR Hannover Orchestra
Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra
Bruckner Orchestra of Linz
Mozarteum Orchestra- Mozartwoche
Aachen Symphony
Dusseldorf Symphony
Hessischer State Opera Orchestra
Hof Symphony
Russian National Orchestra
Latvian National Orchestra
Lithuanian National Orchestra
Hungarian National Orchestra
Prague Philharmonic
Sofia Philharmonic
Slovakian Philharmonic
Slovenian Philharmonic (Music Director 2013-2015)
Zagreb Philharmonic
National Orchestra of Ukraine
RAI Symphony Orchestra
Sicilian Symphony Orchestra
Cagliari Opera Orchestra
Catania Opera Orchestra
Madrid Opera Orchestra
Oviedo Symphony
Seville Symphony
Orchestre national d’Ile-de-France
Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine
Flemish Radio Orchestra
Sinfonie Orchester St Gallen
Athens Camerata
Iceland Symphony
Timisoara Philharmonic
NFM Wrocław Philharmonic
Lviv National Opera Orchestra
Filarmonia Arturo Toscanini
Kyiv Camerata
Deutsches Symphonie Orchester
ASIA
New National Opera of Tokyo- Madama Butterfly
Hong Kong Philharmonic
China National Symphony
Taiwan Symphony
NHK Orchestra Tokyo
AUSTRALIA
Opera Australia- Così Fan Tutte
MIDDLE EAST
Israel Opera- Boris Godunov, Pique Dame, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, La Boheme
Jerusalem Symphony
Royal Opera of Muscat- La Fille du Regiment, Palermo Opera
Gala Concerts -
Anna Netrebko and Prague Philharmonic
Diana Damrau and the Palermo Opera Orchestra
Rebuild Ukraine with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester
1967-1972
Early childhood in Winnipeg
1972-1985
Studies piano, flute, and violin
Joins Winnipeg Youth Orchestra
At age of 16 and 17, performs as flute soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic
Attends the Banff School of Music summer program
1994-1998
Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
1985-1990
Receives Bachelor and Master's degrees in flute from The Juilliard
School as a scholarship student of Julius Baker
Wins Juilliard flute competition and performs as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
Makes Carnegie Hall debut with solo flute recital in Weill Hall
1990-1994
Receives Master's degree in conducting from Juilliard, studying with Otto-Werner Mueller
Wins conducting fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival
Receives the Bruno Walter fellowship award for summer studies
Assists Claudio Abbado at the Salzburg Festival
Makes conducting debut with the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa
1998
Embarks on international conducting career
2020
Nominated for an Opus Klassik Award as "Conductor of Year”
2022
Founds the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and becomes its Music Director
Tours Europe and the United States with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra
2023
Nominated in the category of "Conductor of Year” at the International Opera Awards
Tours Europe and the United States with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra
2024
Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson, released digitally on Deutsche Grammophon
