Thomas Barthel
Opera Coach and Conductor
Thomas Barthel is the Deputy Director of the International Opera Studio (IOS).
He received his musical training at Hope College, where he studied piano performance with Charles Aschbrenner, and at Yale University, studying with Donald Currier, Claude Frank, and Adele Marcus. He also received conducting training from Otto-Werner Mueller.
After three years as a member of the IOS, he worked as a repetiteur at the Zurich Opera House from 1994 to 2003. As a conductor, he led performances in Zurich including Ballet Evening Concertante / Alte Kinder, Britten’s Let’s Make an Opera and Albert Herring, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, The Magic Flute for Children, and Das schlaue Füchslein(The Cunning Little Vixen) in children's versions.
After three years as a member of the IOS, he worked as a repetiteur at the Zurich Opera House from 1994 to 2003. As a conductor, he led performances in Zurich including Ballet Evening Concertante / Alte Kinder, Britten’s Let’s Make an Opera and Albert Herring, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, The Magic Flute for Children, and Das schlaue Füchslein(The Cunning Little Vixen) in children's versions.
He has served as musical director for numerous IOS productions, including La Pietra del Paragone, The Consul, Die Ehe / Die Brüste des Tiresias, The Beggar’s Opera, La Didone, Die fröhlichen Nibelungen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Trouble in Tahiti, and Zweimal Alexander. Most recently, he conducted Iris ter Schiphorst’s Die Gänsemagd at the Zurich Opera House.