Patrick Summers

Patrick Summers is co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS Program, which he has led alongside Renée Fleming since 2019. Throughout his distinguished career, Summers has conducted performances at some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses and symphony halls, including Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Australia, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Summers began his opera career in 1986 with the San Francisco Opera Merola Opera Program. He quickly became music director for SFO’s touring arm, the Western Opera Theater, before being named music director of the SFO Center. From 1999 to 2016, he served as SFO’s principal guest conductor, succeeding his mentor, Sir Charles Mackerras. In 2015, was honored with the San Francisco Opera Medal. He has conducted at the Bregenz Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and has led symphonic performances with the LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Munich Radio Orchestra.

Summers has enjoyed artistic relationships with several of opera’s leading stars, including Ms. Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, Jamie Barton, Ryan McKinny, Ailyn Pérez, Christine Goerke, Iestyn Davies, and many more. His collaborations extend across disciplines, encompassing conductors Eun Sun Kim and Cristian Mӑcelaru and stage directors Baz Luhrmann, Stephen Wadsworth, and Lileana Blain-Cruz.

In 2026, Summers will become Music Director Emeritus at Houston Grand Opera, turning his focus to performance and expanding his literary work. Summers is an artist-faculty member of the AMFS’s New Horizons Program, made possible by an endowment gift by Kay and Matthew Bucksbaum.