Viswa Subbaraman

Internationally acclaimed American conductor Viswa Subbaraman prides himself on creating electric, immersive, and profoundly human experiences. A visionary in the world of opera and symphonic music, he is celebrated for his fearless artistic choices, bringing passion to contemporary compositions and reimagining classics with originality. Currently serving as Artistic Advisor to the South Asian Symphony Orchestra, Subbaraman connects and collaborates across boundaries, fostering and creating a new opera repertoire that has helped redefine the form for modern audiences throughout North America.

With the founding of OperaVista, Subbaraman began his journey with contemporary opera, including the world premiere of James Norman WAKE, and the Texas premiere of Amy Beach CABILDO. As the Artistic Director of Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre, he conducted the world premiere of Somtow Sucharitkul SNOW DRAGON, and brought Thomas Adès POWDER HER FACE and Glass HYDROGEN JUKEBOX to the Skylight stage. More recently, he partnered with famed choreographer Bill T. Jones to bring Daniel Bernard Roumain WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED to Opera Philadelphia, the Apollo Theater in New York City, and Dutch National Opera’s Opera Forward Festival. Roumain’s jazz-infused score was most recently heard with Pittsburgh Opera at OPERA America’s 2024 Annual Conference, also led by Suabbaraman.

Long known for leading cutting-edge productions, Subbaraman partnered with Seattle Opera for the film version of Jonathan Dove FLIGHT, and again for their performances of Jeanine Tesori BLUE. Most recently with Seattle Opera, Subbaraman led the world premiere of Sheila Silver A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, based on the famed novel by Khaled Hosseini. During his time as Artistic Director of the Skylight, he continued pushing boundaries with his self-directed, Bollywood-influenced production of FIDELIO, which earned him recognition as one of Milwaukee’s 40 Under 40 by the Milwaukee Business Journal, an invitation to speak at INKTalks in India as a 2014 INK Fellow, and being named one of Milwaukee’s 14 most influential people by critic Dave Begel.

Internationally recognized, Subbaraman was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Grant to study with John Nelson in Paris, where he made history as the first recipient of a Fulbright extension granted by the French Fulbright Commission. He then served as Assistant Conductor to Kurt Masur with the Orchestre National de France, going on to earn him the coveted Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship – culminating in a residency at the Salzburg Festival. Breaking barriers typically reserved for German conductors, Maestro Masur personally invited Subbaraman to the 2006 Beethoven Seminar at BeethovenHaus, where he took the podium with the Beethoven Orchester of Bonn in the final concert.

Raised in West Texas, Subbaraman studied at Duke University, earning degrees in both music and biology. He holds two Masters degrees, including an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He has collaborated with renowned economics professor Michael Brandl on a groundbreaking business primer for musicians, and was later selected as a delegate to the 2010 Asia21 Young Leader’s Summit in Jakarta and as one of just 100 Indians worldwide invited to the inaugural Indiaspora Summit.