About
Michael Christie returns to San Francisco Opera for the Bay Area premiere of Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. He led the world premiere of the work at the Santa Fe Opera in 2016 and conducts the same cast on Pentatone’s CD recording, which is nominated for several 2019 Grammy Awards including Best Opera Recording. Christie made his Company debut with the 2013 world premiere of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. In 2011, he led Minnesota Opera in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Christie was music director of Minnesota Opera from 2012–18 and has also served as music director of The Phoenix Symphony and Brooklyn Philharmonic, as well as Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Australia. He was recently appointed music director of the New West Symphony.
He first came to international attention in 1995 when awarded a special prize for “Outstanding Potential” at the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in Helsinki. Following the competition, he was invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim as well as at the Staatsoper Berlin.