John Keenan

Conductor John Keenan has conducted opera and orchestral concerts throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Russia, and New Zealand. Having had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, he has conducted a wide range of repertoire there, including Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Un Ballo in Maschera, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte.

At the Mariinsky Theater, he has conducted Verdi’s Aida, Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, and Verdi’s Otello. He has also conducted Dvořák's Rusalka with the Canadian Opera Company and Opéra de Montréal, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Puccini’s La bohème with the Cincinnati Opera, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore with the Washington and Los Angeles Operas, Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier with the New Zealand Symphony, Puccini's La bohème with the Santa Fe Opera, Verdi's Falstaff at the Spoleto Festival, Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer with the Vancouver and Edmonton Operas, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte for the Wolf Trap Festival, and Massenet’s Thaïs, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with the Louisville Orchestra. At the Minnesota Opera, he has conducted Verdi’s Otello, La Traviata and Rigoletto, Puccini’s Tosca, Bellini’s Norma, and Bizet’s Carmen.  He has also conducted Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Verdi’s Il Trovatore with the Kansas City Symphony, and Der fliegende Holländer at the Glimmerglass Festival and Hawaii Opera Theater.

In Europe, he has conducted Renée Fleming in concert with the Prague Radio Symphony, Mozart's Mitridate with the Grand Théâtre de Genève and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with the Opéra de Nice, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with The National Opera of Norway. In the Czech Republic, he has conducted Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Dvořák’s Rusalka, and has recorded with the Prague Philharmonic. 

He has also had the special distinction of teaching in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program, and also having held positions on the conducting staffs of the Bayreuth and Glyndebourne Festivals, the San Francisco and Washington Operas, the post of Chorus Master of the Metropolitan Opera, and a Guest Teacher in the Graduate Conducting Program at the Juilliard School.