Around the Music Festival

The French orchestra Les Siècles has announced the appointment of Italian conductor Antonello Manacorda as its artistic and music director. He made his debut as a guest conductor with Les Siècles in the autumn of 2025, conducting concerts in Amsterdam, Bruges, Tourcoing, and Paris.

“Les Siècles” is an orchestra founded in 2003 by conductor François-Xavier Roth to perform using historical instruments appropriate to the era in which the music was composed. He will begin tenure as his successor—following his departure due to sexual harassment—starting with the 2027/2028 season.

Manacorda, 55, was born in Turin. He majored in violin at the Turin Conservatory and the Amsterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands; in 1994, at the age of 24, his talent was recognized by Claudio Abbado, who selected him as concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Subsequently, when the Mahler Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1997 by Abbado and alumni of the youth orchestra, he served as its concertmaster.

While serving as concertmaster of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra until 2005, he began his conducting career in 1998 under the tutelage of Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; since 2010, he has been based in Berlin and has served as chief conductor of the Kammerakademie Potsdam.

PHOTO：Orquesta de la Comunidad Valenciana　/　Mikel Ponce