MA signs conductor Maayan Franco
Maestro Arts is delighted to welcome conductor Maayan Franco to our roster. Born in Israel in 1998, Franco has rapidly established himself on the international stage. A graduate of the Thelma Yelin School of the Arts in Tel Aviv, he was appointed Associate Conductor at Vienna Volksoper in 2025, shortly after making his debut there conducting Sondheim's Follies.
A committed advocate for contemporary music, Franco was a Lucerne Festival Conducting Fellow in 2021, working with Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, and made his debut with Ensemble Modern at Oper Frankfurt in 2022. He works regularly with Ensemble Meitar and Ensemble 21, exploring new music programmes.
Franco's career has been shaped by a close collaboration with Ilan Volkov, in projects with groups such as Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wien Modern and Ensemble intercontemporain. At just 20 years old, he prepared ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien at Wien Modern festival and conducted off-stage music at the BBC Proms.
In 2023, he made his debut with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Volkov's Tectonics Festival. Reviewing the performance, The Scotsman wrote, ‘The BBC SSO strings gave a searingly intense account under conductor Maayan Franco, who captured the piece’s big emotions in expansive yet precise gestures.’
Franco is currently preparing Tales of Hoffmann at Vienna Volksoper, and next season conducts Ronja Räubertochter, Die Zauberflöte and Lass uns die Welt vergessen – Volksoper 1938 there.
