“It’s Only a Show, It’s Not Life or Death”: Teatro San Carlo’s Artistic Coordinator On What He’s Learned So Far

Ilias Tzempetonidis doesn’t have the classic background one associates with a casting director at Europe’s top opera houses. He was born into a non-musical family, grew up in Thessaloniki, a city with no operatic heritage, and studied law, a discipline with no obvious links to musical theater. 

But a chance introduction to opera as a student changed the trajectory of his life, ushering him into an illustrious career that has included stints with the Greek National Op