Antonello Manacorda
Born in Turin in 1970, Antonello Manacorda (full name: Manacorda Gajal de La Chenaye) is an internationally renowned conductor, trained violinist, and orchestra founder. Born into an Italian family of French origin, he has lived in Berlin since 2000.
Deeply influenced by his encounter with Claudio Abbado, who appointed him concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester at the age of 24, he developed the idea of a democratic orchestra at a very early age. Antonello Manacorda is a founding member and concertmaster of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. In 2001, he decided to take up the baton and, on the recommendation of Simon Rattle, studied with the Finnish maestro and pedagogue Jorma Panula. He is passionate about a historically informed sound, close to the composer’s vision at the time of writing.
As artistic and musical director of the Kammerakademie Potsdam from 2010 to 2025, he has produced numerous highly acclaimed recordings, including works by Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last three symphonies.
At the same time, he regularly appears as a guest conductor with renowned orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Acclaimed in opera productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and the Staatsoper in Vienna, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2025 with Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, followed by Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opéra national de Paris—two highlights of his career as an opera conductor.
In 2027, Antonello Manacorda will become the artistic and musical director of Les Siècles, one of Europe’s leading orchestras in the field of historically informed performance. Founded in 2003 by François-Xavier Roth, this orchestra, which performs on appropriate period instruments, strives to apply the most accurate aesthetic possible to every repertoire it tackles. Antonello Manacorda intends to continue along this path, which has brought the orchestra international renown, while reaffirming the ensemble’s importance in the French repertoire with works drawn from the European musical tradition.
Antonello Manacorda is among the most eminent conductors of his generation.
