Daniel Carter

‘Conductor Daniel Carter makes an auspicious mainstage debut, leading the redoubtable Orchestra Victoria in a confident, unflustered manner. Carter’s management of the orchestra, six singers and four percussionists on stage in What Next? is quite extraordinary.’ 
Simon Parris, Herald Sun, 19 August 2012.

‘All of the musicians negotiated a rich and complex score [Elliott Carter What Next?] under the expert guidance of Daniel Carter with considerable finesse.’ 
Heather Leviston, ArtsHub, 17 August 2012.

‘The entire performance exhibited a high level of professionalism, with fine conducting of Orchestra Victoria by Daniel Carter.’ 
Peter Burch, The Australian, 17 August 2012

Daniel Carter graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) having studied Composition and Piano. In 2012, he won the Brian Stacey Memorial Award for Emerging Conductors after completing a two year period as a Developing Artist Conductor/Repetiteur with Victorian Opera, where as Assistant Conductor he worked on over 15 mainstage productions as well as serving as Richard Gill’s assistant. Daniel is a graduate of the Symphony Services International Core Conductors Program where he was awarded a Podium Scholarship and has worked with the symphony orchestras in Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, Sydney and Auckland under the tutelage of conductors such as Bernard Labadie, Arvo Volmer, Lutz Köhler, Sebastian Lang-Lessing and Christopher Seaman.  Daniel has also taught at Symphony Services International as part of the Scholar Conductors Program.

Daniel has conducted performances of Victorian Opera’s Threepenny Opera at Sydney Theatre Company, youth operas and education performances of The Magic Flute, prepared the chorus for the Australian Ballet's 'Elegy', worked as Assistant Music Director and on 'Assembly' for the Melbourne Festival

During the 2012 and 2013 seasons Daniel began his association with Opera Australia as Assistant Conductor on Così fan tutte and Aida, and as conductor on the Opera Australia Tour of Don Giovanni. During this period he also conducted for the Sydney Symphony Education program; the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (as part of the Young Performers’ Awards Grand Final); the Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, including conducting performances of Pierrot Lunaire with soloist Merlyn Quaife at the Melbourne Recital Centre, and Melbourne Youth Music and Willoughby Symphony. He made his mainstage debut for Victorian Opera conducting the Australian premieres of Elliott Carter’s What Next? and Manuel de Falla’s El Retable de Maese Pedro, which resulted in return invitations to conduct El Gato con Botas, Rush Hour and the world premiere of Calvin Bowman’s The Magic Pudding (for which he was nominated a Green Room Award for Best Conductor). He also assisted on Nixon in China (Adams) for Victorian Opera. Prior to his debut with Victorian Opera, he was awarded the Susan Harley Living Bequest, which enabled him to travel to New York to study What Next? with the composer, Elliott Carter.

From 2013 – 2015 Daniel Carter was assistant to Simone Young and resident repetiteur at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, where his performances included Die Zauberflöte, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and a double bill for the Opera Studio of In the Locked Room (Watkins) and Persona (Langemann).

Recently Daniel conducted Carmen, Iphigenie en Tauride (Gluck) and a premiere season of Gluck’s Orphee for Theater Freiburg, Germany, which led to his appointment as First Kapellmeister for the 2015-2016 season in which he conducted L’Elisir d’Amore, Cosi fan tutte, Mefistofele (Boito), and Carmen and a Philharmonic Orchestral series concert, as well as conducting Il Trovatore in Winterthur in Switzerland.

Daniel has conducted both the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and the Australian Youth Orchestra and returned to Australia in 2016 to conduct the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and will do so again this year. In December 2016 Daniel he made his debut at Cologne Opera conducting a series of performances of La Bohème, followed by Hansel and Gretel in Trier, and The Makropulos Case and the world premiere of Crusdaes (Vollmer) both in Freiburg.