This year marks Federico Cortese’s sixteenth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. In addition to serving as Music Director of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras since 1999, Maestro Cortese has conducted throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and China.
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From 1998-2002, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. Previously, Federico Cortese served as music coordinator and associate conductor of the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He also served as assistant conductor to Robert Spano, at the Brooklyn Philharmonic in NYC, and to Daniele Gatti at the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
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Maestro Cortese has conducted several prominent symphony orchestras, including, among many others, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, BBC Glasgow, Sydney, Melbourne Symphonies, and Oslo Philharmonic. Opera engagements have included, among many others, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Spoleto Festival both in Italy and in the United States, Boston Lyric Opera, Saint Louis Opera, the Finnish National Opera, Opera Australia, and the WashingtonOpera.
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Maestro Cortese studied composition and conducting at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome and subsequently studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He also studied literature and humanities and holds a law degree from La Sapienza University in Rome.