Killian Farrell

Described as “a firework of drama and poetry” by Neue Musikzeitung, conductor Killian Farrell, Generalmusikdirektor at Staatstheater Meiningen, began his career at Theater Bremen, serving as First Kapellmeister and conducting a range of repertoire including new productions of “Die Zauberflöte” and Wolfgang Rihm’s “Jakob Lenz”, alongside performances of “Der Rosenkavalier”, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”, “Alcina”, “Rusalka”, and “Fidelio”. Farrell also held the position of First Kapellmeister at Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he conducted works including Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges”.
The actual season brings Farrell to Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Deutsche Oper am Rhein for productions of “The Lighthouse” & “Dido and Aeneas”, among other engagements. In the opera house, he conducts the Meininger Hofkapelle in productions of “The Wreckers” (the German premiere of its unabridged original version), “Don Carlo”, “Tristan und Isolde” and “Don Giovanni”.
The 2023/24 season took Farrell to the Stuttgarter Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Irish National Opera, and the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and included concert engagements with National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, and Georgian Chamber Orchestra.
Farrell served as a Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Centre in 2019, conducting their orchestra and receiving guidance from conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Thomas Adés, and Giancarlo Guerrero. He is a former Young Artist at the National Opera Studio, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and an alumnus of the prestigious Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. A former member of the German Conductors’ Forum, he was awarded a scholarship from the Bryden Thomson Trust.
Farrell comes from Dublin, Ireland, and is a former Deputy Head Chorister of Dublin’s Palestrina Choir. He made his professional conducting debut at 17 with Bach’s St. John Passion. He studied conducting, piano, and organ at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and read musicology at Trinity College Dublin.