Marko Letonja was born in Slovenia and has been internationally active as a concert and opera conductor since 1991. He began his studies as pianist and conductor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and completed his studies as student of Otmar Suitner at the Academy for Music and Theater in Vienna in 1989. Only two years later he became Music Director of the Slovenian Philharmony in Ljubljana, which he conducted until 2003. During this time, Marko Letonja´s international career began. With his appointment as Chief conductor and Music Director of the symphony orchestra and the Theater Basel in 2003, Marko Letonja´s focus shifted to the music theater. He has for example appeared as a guest at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, at the Semperoper, La Scala, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourgh, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari and at the Teatro San Carlo. As of 2012 Marko Letonja is chief conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg as well as chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2013 with Pique Dame and conducted here also Les Contes d’Hoffmann.      http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/kuenstler/dirigenten/Letonja.en.php