Alfonso Scarano named Chief Conductor of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra

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Alfonso Scarano has been named Chief Conductor of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2017-18 season after having served as Guest Conductor for six seasons between 2011-12 and 2016-17.

Of the appointment, Alfonso said: “I'm honored to have been appointed as the new Chief Conductor of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. The new role represents the natural continuation at my six seasons as TPO Guest Conductor but also represents a new and exciting challenge. I very much look forward to the new season, having opened with Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and promises to be unforgettable.”

After serving as Principal Guest Conductor between 2012 and 2013, Alfonso has been Chief Conductor of the Severočeská Filharmonie Teplice (Czech Republic) since 2013. Alfonso’s previous positions include Principal Guest Conductor of the Virtuosi di Praga (2000 – 2010) and Music Director and Conductor of the Toscana Opera Festival, Italy (2006 – 2008).

He was the winner of the 1993 Bottega International Conducting Competition in Treviso, Italy (Chaired by Peter Maag), winner of the 1997 Franco Capuana European Community Conducting Competition in Rome, Italy (Chaired by Michelangelo Zurletti) and won second prize (first and third not assigned) at the 2005 Luigi Mancinelli International Conducting Competition in Orvieto, Italy (Chaired by Maurizio Arena). In 2003 he was chosen by Daniele Gatti to participate in the Young European Conductors biennial project for the Scuola di Musica in Fiesole in Italy.

Alfonso has conducted several orchestras, including Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma, Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, The New Russia State Symphony Orchestra in Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall, Kiev National Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra as well as the Prague Philharmonia in tour with Mischa Maisky and the most important orchestras of Czech Republic. A highlight for the 2017/2018 season includes his debut in Israel with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Alfonso has conducted the mainstays of operatic repertoire including Nabucco, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Don Pasquale, La Sonnambula, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi and Gluck’s opera Le Cinesi in theatres such us Politeama Greco in Lecce, Teatro Sperimentale in Spoleto, Teatro Civico in Vercelli, Teatro Comunale in Treviso, Pompei Festival, Anfiteatro Romano di Ostia Antica in Roma, Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, Stagione Lirica in San Gimignano, Friedrichshafen Theater, Freiburg Theater, and the Roman Amphitheater in Plovdiv. For any enquiries: Olivia Brown olivia@wildkatpr.com +44 (0)20 3422 3344

A supporter of the contemporary music, Alfonso has conducted several works by Kaufmann, Harlap, Hyuk-Cha, Prangcharoen, Laks, Bonera, Ugoletti, Perotti, Di Marino, Libetta, D’Avalos and Dionisi, some of which were a world premiere performance.

Besides classic ballets including Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Raymonda, Alfonso has concentrated his attention on historical twentieth century repertoire, conducting La Giara by Alfredo Casella, Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev and Apollon Musagete by Stravinsky. The press enthusiastically received the international dance gala conducted by Alfonso at Mittelfest in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Alfonso has collaborated with the world’s greatest dance companies, notably the Wiener Staatsoper, Ljubljana Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, Ballet de l’Opèra de Paris and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2011 he conducted the first performance of the ballet ‘Death and the Maiden’ by Schubert in the version for orchestra by Gustav Mahler, a new creation of the Balletto di Roma.

His discography includes recordings for Tactus (world premiere recording of the Suite for Organ and Orchestra by Respighi), Lupulus (works of Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti with Virtuosi di Praga), Triart (Menschheit op. 28 by Schulhoff and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder) as well as several Thai music CDs recorded with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alfonso Scarano is qualified in conducting (Conservatorio Umberto Giordano in Foggia), opera conducting (Accademia Musicale Pescarese), choral conducting (Conservatorio Niccolò Piccinni in Bari) and trumpet (Conservatorio Tito Schipa in Lecc