The Paducah (Ky.) Symphony Orchestra has appointed RAFFAELE PONTI artistic director and conductor, effective next season. Ponti currently holds three music directorships in New York State—at the Empire State Lyric Theatre, Genesee Symphony Orchestra, and Genesee Valley Orchestra & Chorus—and is conductor of Italia Konzert Opera in Italy. He is a regular guest conductor with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Recent and upcoming engagements include New York State’s Rochester Philharmonic, Utica Symphony Orchestra, Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes; the Elgin (Ill.) Symphony Orchestra and the Billings (Mont.) Symphony Orchestra; and such European organizations as the Sofia and Siena symphony orchestras, the Varna State Opera, and the Teatro Lirico di Europe. Born in the U.S. to Italian parents, Ponti began his musical studies in violin, piano, and trumpet, and subsequently studied conducting with Giuseppe Sinopoli at the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. As a trumpeter he has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Posted April 27, 2010
