Eve Queler [b. 1936], a native of New York City, is a classical conductor whose name is synonymous with the organization she founded in 1971, Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY). Her musical talents were apparent from an early age, granting her the ability to attend the city’s LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She studied piano and conducting at The New School’s Mannes College for Music in Greenwich Village and was later a student of conductors Walter Susskind and Leonard Slatkin.
Throughout her career, her skill with opera has allowed her to appear as a guest conductor in many international venues, including the Mariinsky Theatre (Saint Petersburg, Russia), the Hamburg (Germany) State Opera, the National Theater (Prague, Czech Republic), and many others. However, it is due to her position as artistic director and principal conductor of OONY that Queler has received the bulk of her accolades and awards—most recently, the 2010 National Endowment of the Arts’ “Lifetime Achievement in Opera” award.
The unique premise behind Opera Orchestra of New York is Queler’s unbridled interest in operatic rarities, those works that have disappeared from the standard repertoire in the decades (or centuries) since they were first performed. These operas are generally performed in a concert-only format, which means there are no sets or costumes, and the singers share the stage with the orchestra in a gala-type presentation. This methodology helps keep costs to a minimum, which is particularly important since OONY usually performs each work only once. Queler was the first conductor to present the Mussorgsky opera Khovanshchina on a U.S. stage, and she has introduced American audiences to a number of other Russian and Czech operas as well.
Because of Queler’s reputation on the podium and as an impresario, she is able to attract some of the world’s best singers to her twice- or thrice-per-year productions. This is especially true for stars anxious to sing roles they might otherwise never have a chance to perform elsewhere during their careers. Richard Tucker appeared in Meyerbeer’s L’africaine in 1972, Carlo Bergonzi sang in Puccini’s Edgar in 1977, and Nicolai Gedda fulfilled the title role in the Berlioz extravaganza, Benvenuto Cellini, in 1983, three of the greatest tenors of their era. Some of the other big-name singers to have appeared in an OONY production during their prime (or even earlier) are José Carreras, Placido Domingo, Aprille Millo, Montserrat Caballé, Renate Scotto, Grace Bumbry, Katia Riccciarrelli, Juan Pons, James Morris, Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Dolora Zajick, Renée Fleming, Jennifer Larmore, June Anderson, John Relyea, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Marcello Giordani.
An extensive interview with Eve Queler upon her receipt of the NEA Opera Honors Award [2010]: