It's an incredible honor both as a conductor, and as a native Southern Californian to be part of the great tradition of Opera San Luis Obispo. Nestled right in-between the two largest cities in California (San Francisco and Los Angeles), in the heart of wine country, footsteps from some of the most beautiful beaches and mountain ranges, San Luis Obispo is the perfect setting for opera and a truly magical place for classical performing arts.
My interests lie in expanding global awareness of opera and classic musicals through large-scale, multi-collaborative grand productions. Opera and musical theater is the Olympics of Classical Music — it's where all classical arts converge together on one stage: orchestra, ballet, chorus, soloist, acting, and the design arts of lighting, costume, makeup, and set. These important live performance genres are unique in that they are responsible for uniting the greatest number of independent artistic forces on one stage at the same time. Where grand opera and musical theater exists, classical arts naturally thrive! San Luis Obispo is a thriving melting pot for classical arts in which a rich family of instrumentalists, singers, dancers, and visual artists cross-populate several larger arts ensembles. These inter-artistic relationships are abundant between vocalists and choruses, dancers and dance companies, stage personnel and concert halls, and instrumentalists and orchestras. I believe the power of collaboration is the new frontier for not only opera, but for all classical arts. When complimentary arts organizations hold hands and work together, creative forces merge, new collaborative marketing and performance platforms are created - in essence, the planets align and produce extraordinary outcomes. Does any of this sound interesting to you? Do you have questions? Let's talk! Reach out to me anytime at my office: (805) 782-7342 or by email brian@operaslo.org
BRIAN ASHER ALHADEFF is an internationally acclaimed opera, ballet, and symphonic conductor. Hailed by 805 Living Magazine as the “Maestro of the Central Coast,” Alhadeff has served as the third General and Artistic Director of Opera San Luis Obispo since 2011. He is also Principal Conductor for Civic Ballet San Luis Obispo, Ventura County Ballet, and State Street Ballet, Santa Barbara. Since 2015, he has held the position of Artistic Director & Conductor of the Lompoc Pops Orchestra, where he has commissioned and premiered more than 100 compositions.
A devoted champion of contemporary music, in 2025 he conducted the United States West Coast premiere of composer Deon Nielson Price’s Behind Barbed Wire for Opera San Luis Obispo at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts in Arroyo Grande. In 2024, he conducted the world premiere of composer Charles Fernandez's ballet The Little Mermaid for State Street Ballet at Santa Barbara’s historic Lobero Theatre.
Before relocating to San Luis Obispo County, Alhadeff guest conducted the Albanian National Radio and Television Orchestra in a nationwide broadcast of the premiere of American composer Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, “The Romantic.” His past appointments include Associate Conductor of the Beverly Hills Symphony and Principal Conductor for Ballet Tucson and BRAVA Ballet Arts of Riverside, California. Guest conducting engagements include Tulsa Ballet, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonie Karlovy Vary, San Luis Obispo Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, St. Cloud Symphony, South Florida Opera, Eastern Sierra Symphony, Burgas State Opera, Rio Hondo Symphony, Long Beach Opera, and the Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco, among others.
Passionate about music education and empowering aspiring artists, Alhadeff has served on the music faculty of Cuesta College since 2018. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the San Luis Obispo Career and Technical Education Foundation. In 2024 he created the Peter and the Wolf Project in conjunction with the Opera San Luis Obispo Grand Orchestra, several local theaters, and the San Luis Obispo County Office Education (SLOCOE): a ground breaking initiative that annually brings the live musical experience free-of-charge to 6th graders countywide. In collaboration with Highlight Media and SLOCOE Alhadeff produces the video series Arts Safari (now in its 4th season) which is viewed by more than 30,000 public school students and teachers. In collaboration with Cal Poly's Engineering Department, in 2020, Alhadeff oversaw the creation of the OperaSLO Mobile Opera House, at the time one of only three such mobile stages in the United States, which brings live opera and classical music outreach to underserved schools throughout California’s Central Coast. Previously, he served on the vocal and conducting faculty of the Symphonic Workshops LTD International Opera Workshops. He has also guest lectured at numerous colleges and universities and served on the faculties of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), La Sierra University (CA), and Grand Valley State University (MI).
Alhadeff studied conducting at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD, and the Janáček Academy in Brno, Czech Republic. His conducting degrees include a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), a Masters of Music from California State University of Los Angeles, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Off the stage, Maestro is an alumni of Leadership North County, and an active member of Rotary International. His hobbies include making children's toys, tennis, biking, and hiking. He lives in Templeton with his wife Luana, their two children, and family Labradoodle "Wookie". Enjoy videos of Maestro Alhadeff conducting on his Official YouTube Channel as well as the Official YouTube Channel of OperaSLO.
