The Chilean conductor will serve as music director designate in 2026–27 before assuming the post in the 2027–28 season.
The Phoenix Symphony has announced the appointment of Paolo Bortolameolli as its next Virginia G. Piper Music Director, following a three-year international search conducted with the participation of the orchestra’s musicians. He will become the orchestra’s 12th music director in its nearly 80-year history.
Bortolameolli will begin his tenure as music director designate in the 2026–27 season, leading five programmes including the season-opening concert, before assuming the full title in the 2027–28 season.
The Chilean-Italian conductor said he looks forward to developing a long-term relationship with the orchestra and the Arizona community while exploring both the core symphonic repertoire and contemporary voices.
An international conducting career
Bortolameolli has built an international career across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He currently serves as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Azteca in Mexico, Principal Guest Conductor of the Filarmónica de Santiago, and Music Director of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Chile.
In recent seasons he has made notable debuts with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, and has returned to ensembles such as the Helsinki Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires.
Opera has also been an important part of his work. His recent productions include Puccini’s Tosca at the Opéra de Paris, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar at Detroit Opera.
Earlier in his career, Bortolameolli served as associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he led the 2019 production of Meredith Monk’s opera Atlas at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He is also active as a lecturer and author, and in 2020 published the book Rubato: Procesos musicales y una playlist personal.
Bortolameolli studied piano and conducting in Chile before continuing his training in the United States, earning a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute.
His appointment marks the beginning of a new leadership chapter for the Phoenix Symphony following the tenure of Tito Muñoz, who led the orchestra from 2014 to 2024.
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