Yves Abel is one of the world’s most versatile conductors, equally comfortable in opera and concert with a repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music.

Recently awarded a contract extension as Principal Conductor of the San Diego Opera, a post he has held since 2020, he will conduct Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly there in 2024.

Previous posts include Chief Conductor of Germany’s Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie from 2015-2021, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2005-2013.

A frequent guest at the world’s great opera houses, he regularly conducts at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala di Milano, the Opera National de Paris, the Vienna Staatsoper, the San Francisco Opera, London’s Royal Opera and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, to name a few.

In concert, he has conducted major symphony orchestras worldwide in cities which include Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal, San Francisco, Lyon, Dublin, Liverpool, New York, Genova, Milan, Naples, Bologna, Porto, Copenhagen, among many others.

His recordings include a CD of Ravel and Bizet symphonic works with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Massenet’s Thaïs with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson, Massenet’s Werther with Andrea Bocelli, a disk of French arias with Elina Garança, and another French disc with Patricia Petitbon, plus a recording of Madama Butterfly on Chandon in its English language series. He also has conducted a disc of Italian arias with Maria Luigia Borsi.

Founder and Music Director of L’Opéra Français de New York, he breathed new life into rarities of the French opera repertoire including Cherubini, Rameau, Gluck, Donizetti, Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Offenbach as well as conducting ‘modern’ operas including those by Milhaud, Poulenc and Dusapin.

In 2009, he was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.