Carlo Ponti (conductor)

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Carlo Ponti
Ponti in 2019

Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968)[1] is an Italian orchestral conductor working in the United States. He is the son of late film producer Carlo Ponti Sr.[2] and Italian actress Sophia Loren, and the older brother of film director Edoardo Ponti.

Early life[edit]

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Ponti worked at the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut, under the direction of Harold Farberman from 1994–96, worked with Mehli Mehta, Zubin Mehta, and Andrey Boreyko in Los Angeles from 1997-99, and furthered his musical studies in Austria at the Vienna Musikhochschule from 1999 to 2001 under Leopold Hager and Erwin Acel.[3]

Career[edit]

He has guest conducted internationally and was the recipient of various awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. Ponti has been associate conductor of the Russian National Orchestra from 2000 to 2018 and was music director and principal conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony from 2001 to 2013.[3] In 2013 he founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, an ensemble emphasizing music's educational value of which he is artistic and music director. The Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra is currently performing its ninth concert season (2023–2024) in Los Angeles.[4]

Ponti has released two recordings with the Russian National Orchestra on the Pentatone label and his work and performances have been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC/Universal, NPR, PBS, ORF, Sky News, Spectrum, KTLA, Fox News, Leonard Lopate, Dennis Miller, Symphony Magazine, Classical KUSC, the Associated Press, American Public Media's Performance Today and America's Music Festivals.[citation needed]

Orchestral ensembles conducted by Carlo Ponti[edit]

Listed alphabetically

Festival and event appearances[edit]

Listed alphabetically

  • Avila Primavera Fest, Spain
  • Bratislava Spring Music Festival, Slovakia
  • Europaischer Kulturpreis, Austria
  • Festival d'Echternach, France
  • Festival Napa Valley, United States
  • Festival de Villena, Spain
  • United Nations WTO Global Youth Tourism Summit, Italy
  • Julio Musical, Spain
  • Festival Vancouver, Canada
  • Koln Musik Triennale, Germany
  • Lake Tahoe Music Festival, United States
  • Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Italy
  • Montecatini International Opera Festival and Academy, Italy
  • Royal Days (Kiralyi Napok), Hungary
  • St.Petersburg Palaces Festival, Russia
  • Taichung Music Festival, Taiwan
  • Tuscan Sun Festival, Italy

Awards[edit]

  • 2006 : Premio Galileo Award for exceptional musical achievement.[5]
  • 2008 : Artistic Achievement Award from the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition.[6]
  • 2009 : Spirit of Hope Award from the Childhelp Foundation for his acclaimed work with young musicians.[7]
  • 2011 : Lupa Di Roma Award (co-recipient) from the Roman City Council.[8]
  • 2014 : Premio Civitas, XVIII edition, Pozzuoli[9][10]
  • 2022: Awardee of Italy’s Assoutenti 40th Anniversary Awards for dedication to the development of orchestral music as a cross-cultural tool to promote peace, unity and communication between nations.
  • 2023: Ordine della Stella D’Italia distinction conferred by the President of the Italian Republic on the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for contributing to the worldwide development of classical music education and performance.

Recordings[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Carlo Ponti - Filmweb". Filmweb.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  2. ^ New York Times. "Obituary Carlo Ponti". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18.
  3. ^ a b "Carlo Ponti Homepage". Carloponti.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  4. ^ "Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, 2016". Lavirtuosi.org. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  5. ^ "Premio Galileo 2000 - the winners of 2006 issue". Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  6. ^ "Virginia Waring International Piano Competition - News & Events". Vwipc.org. 2016-01-16. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  7. ^ "California Childhelp Chapters". Childhelp.org. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  8. ^ "Tribute to Carlo Ponti". Vogue.it. 2011-12-13. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  9. ^ "Pozzuoli. Premio Civitas al maestro Carlo Ponti - #Napoli è su NapoliTime - Eventi, Cultura, Personaggi, Politica". Napolitime.it. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  10. ^ "LOCATION: MACELLUM-TEMPIO DI SERAPIDE – Pagina 175 – Premio Civitas". Premiocivitas.it. 1970-01-01. Archived from the original on 2015-07-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  11. ^ "Russian Arts Foundation: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  12. ^ "Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Capriccio espagnol - Neapolitan Song: Carlo Ponti: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.

External links[edit]