Antonello Manacorda

An Italian with a strong affinity for the German repertoire, Antonello Manacorda is a true orchestral practitioner whose artistic creativity is combined with a collaborative approach to music-making. Born in Turin to an Italian French family, educated in Amsterdam, and now living in Berlin, Manacorda was a founding member and long-time concertmaster of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra before studying conducting with the legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula. 

At the end of the 2024–25 season, Manacorda stepped down as artistic director and principal conductor of the Kammerakademie Potsdam. With this ensemble, he produced a series of award-winning recordings and will remain associated with the orchestra as honorary conductor. 

In the 2025–26 season, opera productions take Manacorda to the Opéra National de Paris (The Marriage of Figaro), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Zar und Zimmermann), and The Metropolitan Opera (La traviata). He also undertakes an international concert tour with Les Siècles and Isabelle Faust and conducts subscription weeks with The Cleveland Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, among others. 

In recent seasons, Manacorda has worked with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He enjoyed great success with a new production of Weber’s Der Freischütz by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Bavarian State Opera, his debut at the Semperoper Dresden, and a new production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande at the Opéra National de Paris. 

With the Kammerakademie Potsdam, Manacorda has recorded Mendelssohn and Schubert cycles for Sony Classical, the latter of which received the Orchestra of the Year prize at the 2015 ECHO Klassik Awards. In October 2022, Manacorda and Potsdam received the OPUS Klassik Award in the same category for their recording of Mozart’s final symphonies. A recording of Beethoven’s complete symphonies was released in May 2024; the recording of his Fifth and Sixth symphonies, previously released in October 2023, was awarded the OPUS Klassik in the Best Symphonic Recording category.