Peter Kandra conducts Mozart opera in Slovenian summer program

Last summer, before his final year at UGA, Peter Kanda (B. Mus. Piano Performance, German Studies Minor ‘26) had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Pehlivanian Professional Opera Academy in Slovenia. Founded under the direction of Maestro George Pehlivanian, a Lebanese conductor living between Los Angeles, Paris, and Ljubljana, the academy is an important pillar of the international opera scene. The academy offers comprehensive training for conductors and vocalists from all over the world, with a focus on refining their skills. Every summer, it stages an opera production in various Slovenian towns, enriching the local cultural scene.

This summer, the production was Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart, and Kandra served as conductor. “Don Giovanni is one of the largest and most difficult operas in the repertoire,” said Kandra. “Getting to conduct it just a year and a half after my conducting studies began is a huge step in my career that not many students will ever get to make in their lifetime.

“In particular, I became obsessed with the aria “Non mi dir, bell’idol mio.” It occurs right before the finale where Don Giovanni is dragged to hell, and it is so intimate. I still listen to this aria every day, more than a month after I finished the program.”

No stranger to studying overseas, this was Kandra’s second European educational opportunity. During his first year, Kandra studied in Freiburg im Bresgau, Germany through the UGA Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies. This time, Kandra was on tour. “The tour had nine professional concerts in different cities...I got to see every major city in Slovenia, and then some! Learning to work with an orchestra, whose members were ALL Slovenian, as well as working with other singers and conductors, none of which were american either, provided me with a very varied approach to the craft.”

Though the tour kept Kandra pretty busy, he found a few moments to get lost in nature, both literally and figuratively. One of his days off, Kandra experienced “the world’s largest zip line.” On another day “I hiked 18 miles by myself by accident in Slovenia’s National Park.”

Kandra feels his time at UGA in both the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and as a minor in German Studies have greatly prepared him for his next steps after graduation.  “UGA provided me with the work ethic necessary for such a task. Specifically, performing with Hodgson singers over the last two years has given me an idea of what it’s like to travel often for concerts, sometimes back to back to back.”

Kandra is excited to include this experience as he prepares his audition package for graduate programs in Germany for the next academic year. “The number one thing I came out of this experience with is that I am certain Germany is where I want to study and work to make a career for myself.”