Federico Cortese made his debut in Boston in 1998, conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on short notice for an ailing Seiji Ozawa. He subsequently served as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony from 1998 to 2002. He has been music director of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras since 1999, music director and associate conductor of the Spoleto Festival (Italy), assistant conductor to Daniele Gatti at Rome’s Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and assistant conductor to Robert Spano at the Brooklyn Philharmonic. In addition to orchestral engagements, Mr. Cortese has recently conducted Don Giovanni with the Boston Lyric Opera and La bohème with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. In Europe he has conducted Il trovatore in Parma, Italy, during the Verdi Centennial Festival, The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Spoleto Festival, Niccolo Piccini’s La bella verita at Teatro Comunale with the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Florentino, and Così fan tutte with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. He has recently guest-conducted in Europe and Australia and he conducted André Previn’s Streetcar Named Desire at the Washington Opera. Recent and future engagements include the Oslo and Zagreb philharmonics and the Toledo Symphony. Mr. Cortese studied composition and conducting at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He has been a conducting fellow at Tanglewood. In addition to music, Mr. Cortese studied literature, humanities, and law, earning a law degree from Rome’s La Sapienza University.

Summer 2005