The Orchestra > Principal Guest Conductor

Walter Attanasi

Born in Trieste, Italy, Walter Attanasi has been called to conduct symphonic and opera performances in the world's most renowned and prestigious theatres, halls and festivals. He has collaborated with leading bodies such as the Teatro alla Scala of Milan, the San Carlo of Naples, the Opera of Rome, the Arena of Verona, the Teatro Comunale of Florence, the Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus of Wien, the Staatsoper of Hamburg, the Colon of Buenos Aires, the National Opera of Prague, the Opera of Budapest, the Royal Opera House of Stockholm. He has performed in Japan too.

He was acclaimed by the critics for his musical versatility, performing Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet andTchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty at the Opera of Rome, La traviata in Munich and cooperating with jazz leading artists such as Diane Reeves at Umbria Jazz in 2001 and Quincy Jones at the Rome Global Forum in 2003. In 2004, upon invitation of the then President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azelio Ciampi, he conducted the live broadcasted New Year's Concert at the Quirinal Palace. In February 2005, he was called to conduct the Concert celebrating the 700th anniversary of the University La Sapienza of Rome, performing Haydn's The Creation. In 2006 he débuted at Teatro alla Scala of Milan and Staatsoper of Hamburg, conducting respectively The Barber of Seville and both The Turk in Italy and Così fan tutte. In 2008 he débuted in Sweden with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House of Stockholm conducting Rossini's Cinderella at the presence of the Swedish royal family. Walter Attanasi was the musical director ofTodiMusicFest in Virginia, USA.

He is the current director of UmbriaMusicFest and UmbriaMusicFest - Bratislava. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinú Philharmonic orchestra in the Czech Republic. His discography includes Rossini's Stabat Mater, all Beethoven's symphonies, recordings of Janacek and Dvorak. He recorded a DVD of Nabucco for the Companions Opera in Amsterdam. He also recorded Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and G. Bizet's Djamileh. Recently had his debut in South Africa with Opera Africa - Erfurt production La Traviata at SA State Theatre Opera House di Pretori (Tshwane) in South Africa, and concerts with JPO Johannesburg Philarmonic Orchestra. His forthcoming work includes Verdi's Requiem in Rome, Assisi and Pescara.

 http://www.umbriamusicfest.it/