San Francisco, January 9, 2007 – Nicola Luisotti has been appointed music director of San Francisco Opera effective at the start of the 2009-10 season. The appointment was announced today by San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Chairman Franklin P. Johnson in the War Memorial Opera House. Maestro Luisotti will conduct a minimum of four productions each season and spend the summer and fall opera periods working with the Company. Before he officially begins his tenure, Luisotti will serve as music director designate, working with the general director, administrative staff, board of directors, orchestra, and chorus to ensure a smooth transition in programming and casting for future seasons. Maestro Luisotti, who made his San Francisco Opera debut with Verdi’s La Forza del Destino in November of 2005, will make his next conducting appearances with San Francisco Opera in the fall of 2008. Luisotti succeeds Donald Runnicles, who will leave his position of music director and principal conductor at the close of the 2008-09 season.
Born and raised in Italy, Nicola Luisotti is a rising star in the opera and symphonic worlds with upcoming debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Il Trovatore and Madama Butterfly); Vienna State Opera (Simon Boccanegra); and the Teatro Real in Madrid (Il Trovatore). He makes his North American symphonic debut in March with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and he is scheduled to conduct both the Berlin Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony in future seasons. Maestro Luisotti recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut with Tosca, his Seattle Opera debut with Macbeth, and his Los Angeles Opera debut with Carmen followed by a return to that company for Pagliacci. Recent European successes have included debuts at La Scala (Verdi's Oberto), Bavarian State Opera (Tosca), Paris Opera (La Traviata, followed by new productions of Otello and Madama Butterfly), and in Stuttgart (Il Trovatore and later Otello). He has conducted in most of the major Italian theaters including those of Trieste, Parma, Genoa, Verona, and Naples.
“It was love at first sight with San Francisco Opera and with the city of San Francisco,” said Nicola Luisotti. “I am honored to begin this next chapter of my life with David Gockley and my colleagues at this great opera company.”
“I am thrilled that Nicola Luisotti has accepted our invitation to join San Francisco Opera,” stated David Gockley. “He is the ideal music director for the next stage in the Company’s life—a passionate music maker who is especially experienced in the Italian repertory. The Company is also very fortunate that Donald Runnicles, our present music director, will continue to have a relationship with San Francisco Opera into the future, conducting a new production of Peter Grimes and the completion of the new Ring Cycle, which continues into the 2010-11 season.”
“Over these past 15 years with the San Francisco Opera, I have developed a deep love for the Company, the orchestra, the chorus and the city,” commented Donald Runnicles. “With this in mind, I am naturally interested in the person who will carry on after me as the musical leader of this great institution. I am very happy that Nicola Luisotti will follow me as music director and I send him best wishes as he and San Francisco Opera embark upon this next chapter in the Company’s history.”
American Guild of Musical Artists Vice President and San Francisco Opera Chorus member Colby Roberts commented: “Members of the opera chorus are pleased and excited by the announcement that Maestro Luisotti shall be the next music director of San Francisco Opera. We are certain that he will maintain the high musical standards established by Donald Runnicles and feel that his expertise in the Italian repertoire will form a strong foundation for continued musical excellence in this company. Our experience with Luisotti during La Forza del Destino showed that he has a real love and understanding of the human voice, and a strong passion for the operatic art form.”
"The Orchestra is pleased to have been included in the search process for a new Music Director,” said San Francisco Opera Orchestra trumpet player and Orchestra Committee Chairman William Holmes. “Maestro Luisotti was at the top of our list of candidates based on the memorable performances of La Forza del Destino in 2005. I am delighted that we will have the opportunity to develop our musical relationship, and we look forward to many more exciting performances with Maestro Luisotti."
Maestro Luisotti is trained as both a singer and a pianist. He began his career as a staff conductor at La Scala, working with Riccardo Muti and Lorin Maazel. In 1999 he became music director of the Teatro Verdi in Salerno; engagements followed in Naples, Parma, Trieste, at the Arena di Verona, and particularly in Genoa, where he appears regularly. Maestro Luisotti made his debut in Japan with a staged production of Tosca at Suntory Hall. He has established growing relationships with the orchestras of Zagreb, Sofia, Genoa, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, Munich’s Bavarian Rundfunk Orchestra, and Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
Nicola Luisotti was born on November 26, 1961 in Viareggio, Italy. He and his wife Rita Simonini are currently restoring a home in Tuscany.