Antonio Pappano

One of today's most sought-after conductors, acclaimed for his charismatic leadership and inspirational performances in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Sir Antonio Pappano has been Music Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden since 2002, and Music Director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome since 2005. He takes over as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2024. Nurtured as a pianist, repetiteur, and assistant conductor at many of the most important opera houses of Europe and North America, including at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and several seasons at the Bayreuth Festival as musical assistant to Daniel Barenboim for productions of Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal and Der Ring des Nibelungen, Pappano was appointed Music Director of Oslo's Den Norske Opera in 1990, and from 1992-2002 served as Music Director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. From 1997-1999 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Pappano was born in 1959 in London to Italian parents and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 13. He studied piano with Norma Verrilli, composition with Arnold Franchetti, and conducting with Gustav Meier. In demand as an opera conductor at the highest international level, we performed with the Metropolitan Opera New York, the State Operas of Vienna and Berlin, the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Théâtre du Châtelet and the Teatro alla Scala. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with many of the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin, Vienna, New York, and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Chicago and Boston Symphonies, the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, and the Orchestre de Paris. He maintains a particularly strong relationships with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, has made return visits to the Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin, and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and done widespread touring with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He also has a strong commitment to nurturing young singers and instrumentalists, with connections to the Aldeburgh and Verbier Festivals, leading concerts and masterclasses. His discography features numerous complete operas, orchestral recordings with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and documents his work with other ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker and the orchestras of the Royal Opera House and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. As a pianist, Pappano appears as an accompanist with some of the most celebrated singers, including Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Gerald Finley, and Ian Bostridge, and partnering with singers and instrumental soloists on disc, including in operatic recitals, concerto recordings, and chamber recitals with soloists including Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Maxim Vengerov, Jan Lisiecki, and Barbara Bonney, to name but a few. Pappano has also developed a notable career as a speaker and presenter, fronting several critically-acclaimed BBC Television documentaries including 'Opera Italia', 'Pappano's Essential Ring Cycle' and 'Pappano's Classical Voices'.