Ronen Nissan, born in Israel, is a versatile conductor and arranger whose repertoire ranges from symphonic and sacred music, to works by composers persecuted by the Nazis, to cross over, film music and even tango projects.
Mr. Nissan served for 15 years as the Music Director of the “St Stephan” Choir and Chamber Orchestra (Tulln, Austria), where he regularly led performances of sacred music. He also served as conductor of Vienna’s principal Synagogue choir and as Assistant with the Neue Oper Wien (New Opera Vienna) and the Wiener Operntheater (Vienna Opera Theater).
In May 2022 he led a Bel Canto Arts double bill opera production of Rimsky Korsakov’s “Mozart and Salieri” and of Mascagni’s “Zanetto”.
In recent years Mr. Nissan has been cooperating with Israeli composer Baruch Berliner both as an arranger and as a conductor, leading performances of Berliner’s works with orchestras in Lviv, Ukraine (2021), St Petersburg (2019), and Vienna (2018).
A further artistic cooperation – as conductor, arranger, and guitarist – is with the Bente Kahan Foundation (Wroclaw, Poland), presenting “Unfinished Lives” – art-, folk- and Cabaret music from the Theresienstadt ghetto, most recently in Prague, with up and coming performances in Oslo and Warsaw (2022) as well as in Tel Aviv (2023).
In 2019 he led the Hallein chamber orchestra at the Hallein Guitar Festival. Further guest conducting engagements included leading the Berliner Symphoniker (in 2017/8), and the German radio orchestra (in 2012/3) on concert tours in China. During 2014-5 Mr. Nissan led the soloists, choirs, ballets, and orchestras of the Stara Zagora and the Veliko Tarnovo Operas (Bulgaria) in a series of Strauss Gala and Classic Hollywood film concerts . In 2014 Mr. Nissan led a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), after which he was awarded a Medal by the Bishop of Lower Austria for his contribution to the promotion of sacred music. The same year he also had his debut with the Opole Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland). His project, “The Well Seasoned Clarinet”, written and arranged for clarinetist Andy Miles, had its premiere with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany) in 2013.
In his native country, Mr. Nissan has conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a series of concerts for young adults, the Netanya Kibbutzim Orchestra and the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra. He also led the “Spirit of Europe” Chamber Orchestra (Austria) on two concert tours of Israel. He worked with orchestras in Italy (Orchestra Sinfonica di Terni), the Czech Republic (Budweis Kammerphilharmonie), in Argentina (Santa Fe, Rosario, Parana and Bahia Blanca) as well as in Liechtenstein and Turkey.
Ronen Nissan is also an active arranger and guitarist with the Vienna Tango Quintet, with whom he performed in Austria, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey. The quintet has recently recorded a new CD with Austrian – Israeli singer Timna Brauer.
Mr. Nissan earned both his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.