A Swiss-Austrian conductor building a growing presence across the symphonic and operatic repertoire.
A Swiss-Austrian conductor building a growing presence across the symphonic and operatic repertoire.
Biography
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Sándor Károlyi is a Swiss-Austrian conductor with a growing presence in both the symphonic and operatic fields. From 2023 to 2025, he was 2nd Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where he conducted productions of Carmen, Märchen im Grand-Hotel, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Die Fledermaus, and Madama Butterfly.
His other recent opera engagements include La Finta Giardiniera with the Vienna Philharmonic's Summer Academy, Don Pasquale and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Ticino Musica Festival in Lugano (2019, 2021), and La Cenerentola at The New Generation Festival in Florence (2020). In the concert hall, Károlyi has appeared with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, Inso-Lviv Orchestra, Kammerphilharmonie Landshut, and the Orchestre de Dijon Bourgogne. A laureate of the 2018 International Nino Rota Conducting Competition and a semi-finalist at the 2017 Fitelberg Competition, he has worked as an assistant to Enrique Mazzola, Ingo Metzmacher, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Julian Rachlin. Károlyi trained as a pianist, trombonist and singer before studying conducting at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK) and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW). Born in Munich and raised between Geneva and Vienna, he was awarded a bursary from the Eötvös Foundation in Budapest and has participated in masterclasses with prominent conductors including Paavo Järvi and Daniele Gatti.

Video
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Károlyi conducts a performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Károlyi conducts Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture in concert.
Gershwin: Girl Crazy Overture
Károlyi conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Don Rose's arrangement of the Girl Crazy overture.
Orff: Carmina Burana
Károlyi conducts Orff's Carmina Burana in concert.
