Acclaimed as “a conductor you want to hear again and again,” Roberto Abbado’s crisp, dramatic music-making, instinctive lyricism and evocative command of varied composers and styles have made him an esteemed conductor among orchestras and opera companies today.

Highlights of Abbado’s 2007-08 season include a performance series with the Israel Philharmonic, three subscription weeks with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with a focus on symphonies of Franz Schubert, a return to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s featuring Joshua Bell, and appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony and the Juilliard Orchestra.  In opera, Abbado conducts the world premiere of Fabio Vaccchi’s Teneke for Teatro alla Scala, La Clemenza di Tito at Teatro Regio di Torino, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of Verdi’s Ernani.  Abbado joined the team of Artistic Partners at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in the 2005-06 season, a position that he recently extended into a second, three-year term. Born into a dynastic musical family, his grandfather was a famous pedagogue of violin, his father was director of the Milan Conservatory, and uncle is Claudio Abbado, the former music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Roberto Abbado studied with renowned conducting teacher Franco Ferrara at Venice’s La Fenice and Rome’s Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ... read full bio