Harry Bicket has been named the next chief conductor of Santa Fe Opera. He takes up the role on October 1, 2013 and will conduct Beethoven’s Fidelio in the summer of 2014. The conductor has forged a strong relationship with the company over a number of years, conducting Agrippina in 2004, Platée in 2007 and Radamisto in 2008. He replaces Frédéric Chaslin, who was named Santa Fe chief conductor in 2010.
 
‘Harry Bicket is one of the most important and sought-after conductors working today, and brings a wealth of experience to Santa Fe,’ said general director Charles MacKay. ‘He is in demand by opera companies, symphony orchestras and chamber music venues; his ability to commit to the responsibilities of chief conductor is a coup for the company.’
 
Harry Bicket added, ‘I am thrilled to be joining a company that has such a fierce commitment to the highest artistic standards as well as to adventurous programming. My work with this orchestra has been some of the most fulfilling of my career, and I look forward to many years of collaboration to come.’

In 2007 Bicket was named artistic director of Baroque specialists The English Concert. He has appeared in opera houses and concert halls around the world, including London’s Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic. Future engagements include Carmen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Rusalka at the Houston Grand Opera, and the continuation of a three-year cycle of Handel operas with The English Concert at Carnegie Hall, which began with Radamisto this spring, to be followed by Theodora in 2014. He can currently be seen conducting Handel’s Giulio Cesare for New York’s Metropolitan Opera.