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Nicholas Carter, the newly appointed Music Director of the Staatsoper and Staatsorchester Stuttgart from the 2026/27 season, has emerged as one of the most riveting opera conductors, acclaimed for his arresting presence in the pit. His distinguished artistic versatility has earned him a reputation as a perceptive interpreter of opera, ranging from Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Strauss to Russian and French repertoire, encompassing as far as music dramas of Britten and contemporary composers such as Brett Dean. Equally sought-after in the concert hall, Carter conducts wide breadth of symphonic repertoire and maintains regular collaborations with leading international orchestras.

He opens the 2025/2026 season with his return to The Metropolitan Opera to conduct Strauss’ Arabella, followed by debuts with Semperoper Dresden in two titles, Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Verdi’s La Traviata, as well as with Bayerische Staatsoper for Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore. Carter concludes the season with his return to the Glyndebourne Festival for Britten's Billy Budd. In previous seasons, he has worked with the Wiener Staatsoper, Oper Zürich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Köln, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Santa Fe Opera.  

Alongside regular collaborations with Australia's leading symphony orchestras, Carter's recent and forthcoming symphonic highlights include debuts with the Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Brucknerorchester Linz, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre Métropolitain, Seoul Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic, to name just a few. 

Carter previously held positions as Kapellmeister at both the Staatsoper Hamburg and Deutsche Oper Berlin and served as the Principal Conductor at the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2019, the Chief Conductor at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt and the Kärntner Sinfonieorchester from 2018 to 2021, and most recently Chief Conductor and Co-Operndirektor at Bühnen Bern from 2021 to 2025.