Charles Olivieri-Мunroe
https://www.olivieri-munroe.com
CHARLES OLIVIERI-MUNROE’s hold on public imagination stems from a 'combination of talent and charisma' (New York Times) and a 'passion for purity of orchestral sound' (Toronto Star) supported by a proven ability for connecting with a strikingly diverse audience.
He is artistic director and principal conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2015); and, concurrently honorary chief conductor with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2013), previously its music director (since 1997). He is the newly named principal guest conductor with Thürringen Philharmonie in Germany (2019).
He is a regular guest conductor with the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra since stepping in to conduct alongside pianist Krystian Zimerman, and resident conductor at the Texas Round Top Festival Institute, the longest continuously running music festival of its kind in America.
​Formerly Charles Olivieri-Munroe was chief conductor of Philharmonie Südwestfalen in Germany (2011-2018) and held the positions of Principal Conductor of the Colorado ‘Crested Butte’ Festival (2008), Artistic Director of the Inter-Regionales Symfonie Orchester in Germany (2008), Chief Conductor of the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava (2001-2004), and Associate Conductor with the Brno Philharmonic (1995-1997) and Karlsbad Symphony Orchestra (1993-1995).
Charles Olivieri-Munroe regularly appears with major orchestras throughout the world including the Israel Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, National Philharmonic of Russia, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Royal Brussels Philharmonic, and many others.
In the opera house, Charles Olivieri-Munroe made his conducting debut in 2001 leading Verdi’s Falstaff at the Berlin Opera. Since then he has conducted Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro in Milan, Verdi’s Aida at the Lago di Como Festival, Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress in Warsaw, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater at the Prague National Theatre, Schumann’s Genoveva at the National Theatre in Ostrava, Tchaikovsky`s Evgeny Onegin at Franfurt`s Alte-Oper and Rossini`s Barber of Seville at the Poznan Opera Theatre. He has also conducted at the Sydney Opera House, Il Teatro Fenice in Venice and in Amsterdam at the Netherlands National Ballet.
Future productions next season include Verdi`s Othello at the Belgrade National Theatre and Mozart`s Marriage of Figaro at the Hong Kong Opera
Born in Malta, Charles Olivieri-Munroe grew up in Canada where he studied the piano with the eminent pedagogue Boris Berlin at the Royal Conservatory of Music and at the University of Toronto. Following his graduation in 1992 he won three Ontario scholarships to study with Otakar Trhlik at the Janacek Academy of Music in Brno. He studied with Jiri Belohlavek and spent two summers (1995 and 1996) at L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena as a pupil of Ilja Musin, Yuri Temirkanov and Myung Whun Chung. In 1997 Charles Olivieri-Munroe was a recipient of the $20,000 career grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
His international career was launched by a series of triumphs in international competitions culminating with his being honored with First Prize in the 2000 Prague Spring International Music Festival Conducting Competition in which he also won the prizes offered by Supraphon Records, the City of Prague, and by Czech Radio, as well. In 2013, Charles Olivieri-Munroe was recognised for his achievements in conducting and music with the Brand Personality Award conferred by the Asia Pacific Brand Foundation, previous laureates of which had included Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela and Mark Zuckerberg, among others.
Charles Olivieri-Munroe who is frequently praised for being a supportive accompanist, has shared the stage with many of today's top soloists such as Krystian Zimerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Schlomo Mintz, Joshua Bell, Sol Gabetta, Ivan Moravec, Joseph Suk, Gabriela Benackova, Angela Gheorghiu, Joseph Calleja, Angela Ghiorghiu among others. As an informed interpreter, he also excels in training and developing an orchestra.
Recognised for his innovative programming he has - in addition to the standard repertoire - enhanced the public's musical appreciation of the Czech masters, including Dvorak, Smetana, Janacek and Martinu as also for the wider Slavic repertoire. His recordings for SONY, RCA Red Seal, NAXOS, SMS Classical, and Naïve Records can be heard on many of the major international classical radio stations.