Antonello Manacorda

Antonello Manacorda is currently Artistic Director of Kammerakademie Potsdam, a position he has held since 2010. He has been Principal Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest in the Netherlands since 2011 – a position he bids farewell to in the 2018-19 season. He was Principal Conductor of I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan from 2006-10.

In addition to his two current positions, Manacorda also has guest conducting relationships which include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. He has also worked with a number of other orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony.

In January 2015 Antonello Manacorda made his debut at the Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Mozarteumorchester in a performance of Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella followed by an appearance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a programme of Strauss and Stravinsky. In February 2014 he conducted a Beethoven Cycle over four consecutive days in Potsdam with Kammerakademie Potsdam, while in April he conducted a performance of Mendelssohn’s complete Midsummer Night’s Dream which was broadcast live from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Manacorda is currently engaged in recording a Schubert Symphony cycle for Sony Classical with the Kammerakademie Potsdam. The recordings have been met with high praise, including one being listed in Die Welt’s top ten CDs of 2013. He has also recently recorded a CD of Mahler’s 4th Symphony with Het Gelders Orkest and soprano Lisa Larsson, which was released in November 2014 by Challenge Records.

With a strong experience in opera as well as symphonic repertoire, in December 2014 Manacorda conducted Kammerakademie Potsdam’s Winter Opera production of Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata to great critical acclaim. He also has a long-standing relationship with Teatro La Fenice, and the director Damiano Michieletto, and will be returning to La Fenice in November 2015 to conduct The Magic Flute. Future opera collaborations include La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Komische Oper Berlin and Frankfurt Opera.

A founder-member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Antonello Manacorda was its vice-president and concertmaster for eight years. A scholarship from De Sono in his home town of Turin allowed him to pursue his goal of becoming a conductor by enabling him to study with Jorma Panula for two years in Helsinki. From 2003-06 he was Artistic Director for chamber music at the Académie Européenne de Musique du Festival d’Aix en Provence.