First Italian to hold the post since the orchestra’s founding in 1994
The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (OSN Rai) has named Michele Mariotti as its new Principal Conductor, beginning in October 2026. His three-year contract will run through 2029, succeeding Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who has led the ensemble since 2023.
With this appointment, Mariotti becomes the first Italian to assume the orchestra’s top artistic role since its foundation in 1994. Previous principal conductors have included Eliahu Inbal, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Juraj Valčuha, James Conlon and Orozco-Estrada.
In a statement, Rai CEO Giampaolo Rossi described the appointment as a natural evolution of an already close collaboration, noting that Mariotti has conducted the orchestra regularly in subscription concerts and special projects over the past decade. He also highlighted the symbolic weight of welcoming an Italian musician to the role for the first time in the orchestra’s more than thirty-year history.
A long-standing relationship with OSN Rai
Mariotti made his debut with the orchestra on 7 January 2011 in Reggio Emilia, in a concert attended by then-President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, marking the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. The following year, he conducted the ensemble in Turin’s Piazza San Carlo for Republic Day celebrations.
Since then, he has returned frequently as a guest, both in regular season programmes and for special occasions. These have included a 2017 concert commemorating the 150th anniversary of Arturo Toscanini’s birth, appearances at MITO Settembre Musica, and concerts in Turin and Milan between 2020 and 2024.
Parallel commitments in Rome and beyond
The Rai appointment comes days after confirmation that Mariotti has extended his contract as Music Director of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma through October 2030. He has held the post since 2022. The renewal, announced earlier this month by the Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, underlines a period of institutional stability for the Roman house, whose leadership team has also been reconfirmed.
Born in Pesaro in 1979, Mariotti served as Principal Conductor and later Music Director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna from 2008 to 2018. Awarded the 36th Premio Abbiati as Best Conductor, he is a regular presence at leading opera houses including La Scala, the Opéra de Paris, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera House in London.
In the symphonic sphere, his guest engagements have included the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, among others.
With his dual roles in Rome and Turin set to overlap from autumn 2026, Mariotti’s appointment at OSN Rai signals a consolidation of his position within Italy’s major musical institutions, while continuing an international career that spans both opera and the symphonic repertoire.
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