Omer Meir Wellber

Omer Meir Wellber was born in 1981 in Beersheba

Wellber was born and raised in Beersheba. His parents, Yitzhak and Ora Wellber, are teachers, and his father once served as secretary general of the Teachers' Union. He began studying music at age 5, first on accordion and then on piano.

From age 9 he studied composition with Tania Taler, and later with Michael Wolpe. He graduated from the Beersheba conservatory in 1999. He then studied conducting at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance with Eugene Zirlin and Mendi Rodan, supported by a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

From 2004 he conducted regularly at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. He was an assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and at La Scala in Milan, and in 2009 he became music director of the Ra'anana Symphonette. From 2011 to 2014 he was music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia.

In 2018 he was named chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, music director of Teatro Massimo in Palermo and principal guest conductor of the Semperoper Dresden. He left the BBC Philharmonic in 2022, served as music director of the Vienna Volksoper until December 2023, and was named general music director of Hamburg from the 2025-2026 season. He lives with his family in Milan.