France/United Kingdom

Sonia Ben-Santamaria is the first female conductor to be associated with the Royal Opera House Jette Parkers young artists programme 2017/2018. Highlights of her season includes shadowing Sir Antonio Pappano on Shostakovitch’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, leading the Youth Opera Company chorus on Barrie Kosky’s Carmen and conducting the presentation of The Monstrous Child. Originally Spanish but French born, Sonia trained at the Conservatoire de Toulouse, the Royal Academy of Music, the National Opera Studio, London, and was subsequently offered a position at the English National Opera as trainee repetiteur and vocal coach.  Sonia is the proud founder of Glass Ceiling Orchestra, a socially engaged chamber orchestra which promotes equal opportunities, female conductors and composers. Future engagements include Un Ballo in Maschera for Opera Holland Park.

2018 Hart Institute Concert Performance Selections

• Overture, Don Pasquale   – G. Donizetti
• Son nata a lagrimar, Giulio Cesare in Egitto   – G.F. Handel
• Prosti, prelestnoye sozdan’ye, The Queen of Spades   – Tchaikovsky