Israeli conductor Asher Fisch is well-known amongst the great opera houses of the world, and is receiving increasing critical and public acclaim for his command of the romantic and symphonic opera repertoire.  "Fisch is truly a great Wagner conductor," proclaimed Fanfare Magazine.   The former music director of both the Vienna Volksoper and the New Israeli Opera,  Mr. Fisch was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Opera, last season, appearing each season there, in addition to  frequent guest appearances throughout Europe and the United States

During the 2009/2010 season Mr. Fisch conducts a new production of Tristan und Isolde for the Seattle Opera, and makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, in a program featuring Daniel Barenboim, as piano soloist.  In the United States he conducts concerts with the New York Philharmonic and Kansas City Symphony. Other symphonic engagements in the season include concerts in Naples, Genoa, and Bologna.   

Israeli conductor Asher Fisch is well-known amongst the great opera houses of the world, and is receiving increasing critical and public acclaim for his command of the romantic and symphonic opera repertoire.  "Fisch is truly a great Wagner conductor," proclaimed Fanfare Magazine.   The former music director of both the Vienna Volksoper and the New Israeli Opera,  Mr. Fisch was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Opera, last season, appearing each season there, in addition to  frequent guest appearances throughout Europe and the United States

During the 2009/2010 season Mr. Fisch conducts a new production of Tristan und Isolde for the Seattle Opera, and makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, in a program featuring Daniel Barenboim, as piano soloist.  In the United States he conducts concerts with the New York Philharmonic and Kansas City Symphony. Other symphonic engagements in the season include concerts in Naples, Genoa, and Bologna.   

For years Mr. Fisch has appeared at the Vienna Staatsoper, conducting symphonic opera repertoire including Falstaff and Der Rosenkavalier.  Having made his debut last season at the Bayerische Staatsoper,  he is scheduled to conduct five separate productions there in 09/10  including Madama Butterfly, Salome, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Zauberflöte and a new production of Palestrina, the opera rarity by Hans Pfitzner.  

Mr. Fisch's rendition of Wagner's Ring Cycle on Melba Records (in SACD) has received international accolades.  Siegfried was chosen "CD of the month" by both BBC Classical and FM Classical Magazines in Britain.  OPUS Magazine credited Mr. Fisch with cycle's success,  saying,   "But above all, it was the conducting of Asher Fisch that made this Ring so special. It is not going too far to say that he ranks among the finest Ring conductors of our time."

For more than a decade Mr. Fisch has been a regular guest at the Berliner Staatsoper, conducting a broad repertoire of core romantics works such as  Parsifal, Fidelio, Onegin, Tosca, and  Madame Butterfly, but also including Mozart operas among them, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.  He has similarly also conducted a broad repertoire ranging from Mozart to Berg in other leading European opera houses such as La Scala Milan, Vienna Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Dresden Semper Oper, Hamburg Staatsoper, Leipzig Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he conducted the concert gala celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Royal Opera House, which was recorded and released by EMI Records.   

After making his United States debut with the Los Angeles Opera in 1995  he has since conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera.   In the summer of 2003 he inaugurated the new Seattle Opera House to great acclaim with a new production of Parsifal, and returned to Seattle in July 2004 for Lohengrin.   That same year he led the  new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle for the South Australian Opera, which won ten awards at Australia's Helpmann Awards, including best opera and best music direction.

Among the symphony orchestras in North America,  Mr. Fisch has conducted the symphony orchestras of Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, Saint Louis, Toronto, Montreal, Minnesota and the National Symphony in Washington, forging relationships with several.   In Europe, he appears regularly at the Munich Philharmonic and has also conducted Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, and the Staatskapelle Dresden, which he led on an acclaimed tour of Italy in 2002.  In Asia, he has conducted the NHK Orchestra of Tokyo.

Asher Fisch's tenure as Music Director of the Vienna Volksoper exemplifies a great partnership between Music Director and General Director Klaus Bachler. Their achievements range from a critically acclaimed production by Christina Mietlitz of Die Meistersinger von Nurmberg to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the opera company to the Vienna premiere of Zemlinsky's Der Konig Kandaules.

Mr. Fisch began his conducting career as Maestro Barenboim's assistant and kappellemeister at the Berlin Staatsoper, and has been championed by Mr. Barenboim ever since. He is also an accomplished pianist, and has directed Mozart piano concerti and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" from the keyboard.  He continues to perform in chamber concerts and vocal recitals.    He is married to singer Linda Pavelka, and together they have a daughter.

Last updated May 2009. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.