Carlos Kalmar

Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor. He began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl Österreicher. In 1984, he won first prize in the Hans Swarowsky Conducting Competition in Vienna. Kalmar has been music director of the Hamburger Symphoniker (1987–91), the Stuttgart Philharmonic (1991–95), and the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany. He was principal conductor of the Tonkünstlerorchester, Vienna, from 2000 to 2003. Since 2000, Kalmar is the principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. He is also music director of the Oregon Symphony, since 2003. In April 2008, the orchestra announced the extension of Kalmar's contract as music director to the 2012–13 season. Kalmar lives in Portland Oregon with his wife Raffaela.