Born in
Hamilton, Ontario in 1978, Aster studied violin at the
Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and history, politics, dramaturgy and musicology at
McGill University, the
London School of Economics,
King's College London, the
Moscow Art Theatre School, Berlin's
Free University and at
Harvard University, where he also held a teaching fellowship. He has taught opera and drama at the
University of Victoria and
Concordia University (Canada) and directed numerous theatre and opera productions on both sides of the Atlantic, including
Carmen and
Wozzeck in Canada,
Cosi fan tutte (Czech Republic),
Falstaff (Netherlands),
Madama Butterfly (Austria) and Krenek's
Dark Waters at the
Konzerthaus in Berlin. From 2004–06 Aster served as Staff Director at the Tiroler Landestheater in
Innsbruck,
Austria. He has also worked at Vancouver Opera, Teatro la Fenice in Venice,
l'Opéra National du Rhin, the
Deutsche Oper Berlin, and at important festivals in Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands, collaborating with directors such as
Robert Carsen,
Tim Albery,
Brigitte Fassbaender, François Rochaix and
Götz Friedrich and conductors
Kenneth Montgomery,
Yves Abel and
Martin Fischer-Dieskau. As a consultant and associate producer, Aster has cooperated with Eikon Media, TeamWorX Productions, Klassikwerkstatt, and the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Together with pianist, Michael Abramovich, he directed Ensemble Alkan and produced the concert series 'Im buntesten Chaos – das Jüdische in der Musik' at Berlin's Jewish Museum. He has worked as a dramaturg at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as project manager with the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, at the
Berlin State Opera and at Kronberg Academy, near
Frankfurt. Misha Aster works a Producer/A&R Consultant for the recording label Deutsche Grammophon. In 2018, he joined the Vancouver Symphony as Vice-President, Artistic Planning and Production. ==Books==