Born in Israel, Nir Kabaretti is the Music and Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Upon graduation from the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, he began working as Coach and Chorus Master at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, followed by positions as assistant to the Music Director at the Teatro Real in Madrid and conductor and personal assistant to Maestro Zubin Mehta at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy.

In recent years he has established an outstanding international reputation conducting major orchestras such as The Israel Philharmonic,Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, L’Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orquesta Filarmónica di Buenos Aires, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “La Verdi”, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Le Tzion, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester, La Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, La Orquesta Filarmonica di Gran Canaria and the Bochumer Symphoniker .

During 2004-05, Kabaretti made his début with Tchaikowsky's The Nutcracker at Teatro alla Scala di Milano, where recently he conducted a televised ballet production of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer night’s Dream.

His operatic experience includes productions at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Abduction from the Seraglio, Macbet, Il Trovatore,Gianni Schicchi, The Journey to Rheims); Teatro Real in Madrid (Cenerentola, The Valkyrie); The Israeli Opera (Fidelio, ManonLescaut), Opéra de Lausanne (Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze) and The New National Theatre in Tokyo (The Barber of  Seville). He conducted The Diary of Anne Frank, a guest production of the Vienna State Opera performed at both the Bregenz Festival and Expo 2000 in Hanover.

In 2005 maestro Kabaretti lead Teatro San Carlo di Napoli on its first tour to Japan conducting Il Trovatore both in Kyoto and Tokyo.

In 2002, Kabaretti was appointed Principal Conductor of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra in Israel and in 2003, its Music Director, a role he continues to hold today.

Among his recognitions, Kabaretti was awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant for Young Conductors, First Place winner of the 1993 Forum Junger Künstler Conducting Competition in Vienna and in 1994 was a finalist in the International Competition for Conductors in Douai, France.