Les Violons à Rome, de Corelli à Nino Rota

At 25 years old, American-Canadian conductor Kyrian Friedenberg is the Assistant Conductor of the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Philharmonie de Paris through 2026. He came to international attention as the winner of the Neeme Järvi Prize 2022 at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and gave his debut with the Kammerorchester Basel in June 2023. In recognition of his achievements, he has been awarded a 2024 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

The 24/25 season’s highlights include his debut with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, a return to l’Orchestra della Toscana to close the Festivale Sagra Musicale Umbra Perugia, New Year’s concerts with l’Orchestre National de Metz, and a residency at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Verdi’s Rigoletto. With the Ensemble Intercontemporain, he assists Pierre Bleuse in the Grand Soir Edgard Varèse leading the first rehearsals of Varèse’s Amériques and Arcana, and then in Boulez’s Répons for the opening of the Boulez Centenary celebrations at the Philharmonie de Paris. With l’Orchestre National de France, he assists Matthias Pintscher for the Festival Présences.

He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 2020 where he has been mentored by Alain Altinoglu. He has participated in prestigious academies including the Gstaad Conducting Academy (2022) and the Accademia Chigiana (2023), where he worked closely with Jaap van Zweden and Daniele Gatti. He has worked in masterclasses with Mikko Franck, Johannes Schlaefli, Baldur Brönnimann, Pascal Rophé, Arie van Beek, and Alexandre Bloch.

He has served as an assistant conductor for Jonathan Nott, Pierre Bleuse, Stephanie Childress, Geoffroy Jourdain, and Johanna Malangré, with orchestras including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de Bretagne, and l’Ensemble Intercontemporain. Kyrian assisted Leonardo Alarcón in a 2023 production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Conservatoire de Paris, which he conducted from the harpsichord for a performance. Along with his association with l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, Leonardo Alarcón’s influence and mentorship led to Kyrian’s interest in programming the book-ends of the repertoire alongside each other.

Previously, he has conducted the Kammerorchester Basel, l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, l’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Sinfonie-Orchester Biel Solothurn, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Moravska Filarmonica, Orchestra Senzaspine, l’Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire, and the Richmond Symphony.

Before turning to music, Kyrian spent several years working as a young professional actor, appearing in 332 performances of the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone (dir. Arthur Laurents), as well as several other Off and Off-Off Broadway shows including a lead role in Ron Hirsen’s Frugal Repast at the Abingdon Theater in Manhattan. In addition, he had a blossoming operatic career as a boy soprano, with title roles in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys, Peter Ash’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Having grown up in New York City, he completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano and Organ Performance at McGill University (Montréal, Canada) in 2020. He now lives in Paris.

Recently awarded the prestigious Fernand-Lindsay Career Scholarship, Canadian contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay is a graduate of McGill University and the Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, and has been training with Lena Hellström-Färnlöf since 2020. In 2021, she made her acclaimed debut at the Sofia Opera in the role of Carmen, going on to win First Prize at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Competition and First Prize at the Georges Enesco Paris Competition. In 2022, she was named Révélation Radio-Canada, and won Second Prize in the Prix d'Europe competition. She has also won various prizes at the Sembrich and Premiere Opera Foundation competitions in New York.

In 2023, she made her debut at the Opéra de Metz and Reims as the Second Spirit (Rusalka) and at the Bayerische Staatsoper as the Innkeeper (Boris Godounov), as well as reprising the role of Carmen at the Edmonton Opera. She also produced her first mini-album of original songs, Je me souviens à toi. In 2024, she sang La Voix d'en haut (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Capitole de Toulouse, Erda (Das Rheingold) at the Erfurt Theater and Carmen at the Edmonton Opera.

An accomplished musician, she frequently lends her voice to chamber music, participating in numerous concerts and recitals. She has recently sung as soloist in Elgar's Sea Pictures, Palmeri's Magnificat, Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus, the Requiems of Mozart, Duruflé and Verdi, and numerous Bach cantatas, under the direction of renowned conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Rafael Payare, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Jacques Lacombe and Laurence Equilbey.

In 2025, she returns to the Capitole de Toulouse in the title role of Giulio Cesare, and will make her debuts at La Scala in Milan and the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, performing Farnace in a concert version of Mozart's Mitridate. She will also revisit the role of Carmen at the Sofia Opera in Bulgaria, and launch a solo album of Handel arias accompanied by the Orchestre de chambre de Toulouse on the Arion label.