This year marks Federico Cortese’s fourteenth season as Music Director & Conductor of theHarvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. In addition to serving as Music Director of the Boston YouthSymphony Orchestras since 1999, Maestro Cortese has conducted throughout the UnitedStates, Europe, Australia and China.
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From 1998-2002, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra underSeiji Ozawa. Previously, Federico Cortese served as music coordinator and associateconductor of the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He also served as assistant conductor to RobertSpano, at the Brooklyn Philharmonic in NYC, and to Daniele Gatti at the Orchestradell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
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Maestro Cortese has conducted several prominent symphony orchestras, including, amongmany others, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, BBC Glasgow, Sydney, Melbourne Symphonies,and Oslo Philharmonic. Opera engagements have included, among many others, MaggioMusicale in Florence, Spoleto Festival both in Italy and in the United States, Boston LyricOpera, 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 inRome and subsequently studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He alsostudied literature and humanities and holds a law degree from La Sapienza University in Rome.