EmmanuelVillaume

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  • Conductor

About Emmanuel

Music Director: Dallas Opera Music Director: Prague Philharmonia

French-born conductor Emmanuel Villaume has led captivating performances with the most prominent opera companies and symphony orchestras around the world. Emmanuel continues his tenure this season as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Prague Philharmonia (a position he has held since 2015) in addition to entering his seventh season as Music Director of The Dallas Opera. Emmanuel served as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra (2009-2016), Chief Conductor of the National Slovenian Philharmonic (2009-2016), and Music Director of the prestigious Spoleto Festival, USA (2001 to 2010).

A frequent collaborator with major international opera houses, Emmanuel leads performances at The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Santa Fe Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Liceu Barcelona, Montreal Opera, Teatro Colón, Opéra de Paris, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Nice, Opéra Marseilles, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Cologne Opera, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Regio di Torino, Martina Franca Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna. The 24/25 season will see Emmanuel’s debut with the Wiener Staatsoper with a production of Manon.

Also enjoying a distinguished career on the international symphonic platform, Emmanuel collaborates with esteemed ensembles such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and NHK Tokyo.

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Contact

Jo Fry

Jo Fry

Associate Director
Dora Michael

Dora Michael

Assistant Artist Manager
Mark Hildrew

Mark Hildrew

Executive Director

Representation

Worldwide Opera management: Askonas Holt

Symphonic management: PR-Artists

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Season Highlights

Dec 2026
Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna
Bizet Les pêcheurs de perle Wiener Staatsoper GmbH
Apr 2027
Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich
Donizetti L’elisir d'amore
May 2027
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Bologna
Bizet Carmen

Photos

News

Press

  • Prague Philharmonia

    Carnegie Hall, New York
    Jan 2026

    • Where other orchestras bring out the rich ensemble tapestry, Mo. Villaume allowed us to savour every flute avian trill, the rollicking brass, splendid string playing. This was not a sculptural work: this was painting with every orchestral colour.

  • Prague Philharmonia

    Carnegie Hall
    Jan 2026

    • Led by the orchestra’s chief conductor Emmanuel Villaume. Stark contrasts of pianissimo and forte heightened the drama, and one heard the string sections interacting with each other as one rarely does in this music.

  • Cendrillon

    Metropolitan Opera, New York
    Dec 2021

    • Massenet’s music teems with rustling flourishes and pomp, vibrantly led by the conductor Emmanuel Villaume." "The production is a delight...

  • La Boheme

    Royal Opera House, London
    Jan 2020

    • Conductor Emmanuel Villaume brings drive and intensity to Richard Jones’s detailed but inconsistent production of Puccini’s brilliantly written opera  [...] But La Bohème is also a conductor’s opera, as Toscanini, who conducted the 1896 premiere, proved for the ages in an electrifying 50th-anniversary recording. In the pit, Emmanuel Villaume is in many ways the star of this revival. He brings the drive and intensity that the opera requires while paying full attention to the care and originality of Puccini’s scoring.

    • All benefit from Emmanuel Villaume’s creditable conducting, well paced and with a care for balancing the orchestra that gives it distinction.

    • The conductor, at least for three quarters of this run, is the Frenchman Emmanuel Villaume, who keeps a very tidy ensemble and whips up some intense playing, particularly from the strings.

Discography