Described by his mentor Zubin Mehta as ‘a conductor with immense musicality and warm personality’, Nir Kabaretti has been the Music & Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony since 2006. He has also served as Music Director of Israel Sinfonietta Be’er Sheva (2018-2023), the Southwest Florida Symphony (2014-2020) and the Ra’anana Symphonette (2002-2008).

Kabaretti has earned an impressive reputation across continents for his command of a vast symphonic, operatic and ballet repertoire, and has worked with some of the world’s most sought-after musicians, leading opera houses and renowned orchestras.

After graduating from the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Kabaretti was appointed Chorus Master of the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. Other positions in his early career include assistant to the music directors of the Teatro Real (Madrid) and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

As guest conductor, Kabaretti has worked with over 100 orchestras, including the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège, Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid and the Royal Swedish Opera orchestra.

Nir Kabaretti received the America–Israel Cultural Foundation Grant for Young Conductors. In 1993 he won the Forum Junger Künstler Conducting Competition in Vienna. In 1994 he was among the finalists in the International Competition for Conductors in Douai, France.