Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968) is an Italian orchestral

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

working in the United States. He is the son of late film producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and Italian actress

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

, and the older brother of film director

Edoardo Ponti Edoardo Ponti (born 6 January 1973) is an Italian director. He is the younger son of actress Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and the brother of conductor Carlo Ponti Jr. Early life Ponti was born on 6 January 1973 in Geneva, Swit ...

Early life

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Ponti worked at the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut, under the direction of

Harold Farberman Harold Farberman (November 2, 1929 – November 24, 2018) was an American conductor, composer and percussionist. Biography Farberman studied percussion at Juilliard, and composition at the New England Conservatory and at Tanglewood with Aaro ...

from 1994–96, worked with Mehli Mehta, Zubin Mehta, and Andrey Boreyko in Los Angeles from 1997-99, and furthered his musical studies in Austria at the Vienna Musikhochschule from 1999 to 2001 under Leopold Hager and Erwin Acel.

Career

He has guest conducted internationally and was the recipient of various awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. Ponti has been associate conductor of the Russian National Orchestra from 2000 to 2018 and was music director and principal conductor of the

San Bernardino Symphony The San Bernardino Symphony orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1929 by newspaper magnate and conductor, James K. Guthrie, the San Bernardino Symphony is one of the oldest professional or ...

from 2001 to 2013. In 2013 he founded the

Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra The Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra (also known as LAV) is an instrumental ensemble of professional musicians based in Los Angeles, California, committed to the support and advocacy of music education in schools and the community. LAV supports musi ...

, an ensemble emphasizing music's educational value of which he is artistic and music director. The

is currently performing its eight concert season (2022–2023) in Los Angeles. Ponti has released two recordings with the Russian National Orchestra on the Pentatone label and his work and performances have been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC/Universal, NPR, PBS, ORF, Sky News, Spectrum, KTLA, Fox News, Leonard Lopate, Dennis Miller, ''Symphony Magazine'', Classical KUSC, the Associated Press, American Public Media's ''Performance Today'' and ''America's Music Festivals''.

Orchestral ensembles conducted by Carlo Ponti

''Listed alphabetically'' *ADDA Simfonica *Alba Regia Symphony Orchestra *

American Youth Symphony The American Youth Symphony (AYS) is an orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States, It was founded in 1964. Carlos Izcaray was announced as the third music director in the orchestra's history in 2016. History AYS was founded in 1 ...

*Budapest Concert Orchestra *Budapest Strings Orchestra *

Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an orchestra based in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. History Founded by the Cape Town City Council, the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra held its inaugural concert on 28 February 1914 in the ...

*Cape Town Youth Orchestra *

Castile and Leon Symphony Orchestra Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain * Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha * Kingdom o ...

*Cyprus Symphony Orchestra *Festival Orchestra NAPA *

*Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria * Moscow Chamber Orchestra *Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra *

Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia is a Spanish orchestra, created in 1992 and based in A Coruña. Its conductor is Dima Slobodeniouk. 2012-13 staff * Violins I: Massimo Spadano (CM), Ludwig Dürichen (CMA), Vladimir Prjevalski (CMA), Ruslan Asanov, ...

*Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino *Orchestra della Magna Grecia *

Málaga Philharmonic The Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra ( es, Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga) is a Spanish orchestra based in Málaga. Founded in 1991, the Philharmonic plays regularly at the Cervantes Theatre in Málaga. Since 2014, its principal conductor is Manu ...

Orchestra *Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester *Coro e Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo *Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg * Orquesta de Valencia *Pro Arte Orchestra * Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra * Russian National Orchestra *Orchestra della Repubblica di San Marino *Samara Philharmonic Orchestra *

Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra The Slovak Philharmonic or Slovak State Philharmonic (Slovenská filharmónia) is a Slovak symphony orchestra based in Bratislava. Founded in 1949, the orchestra has resided since the 1950s in the Baroque era Reduta Bratislava concert hall constru ...

* Sphinx Symphony Orchestra *Chorus and Orchestra of the State Opera of Georgia *Taurida Symphony Orchestra * Verbier Festival Orchestra *

Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir The Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir (Національний заслужений академічний український народний хор України імені Григорія Верьовки) is a professional Ukrainian ens ...

* Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra *UCLA Philharmonia Orchestra * Ural Philharmonic Orchestra

Festival and event appearances

''Listed alphabetically'' *Avila Primavera Fest, Spain *Bratislava Spring Music Festival, Slovakia *Europaischer Kulturpreis, Austria *Festival d'Echternach, France *

Festival Napa Valley Festival Napa Valley is a music, food, wine and lifestyle festival held in Napa Valley, California. It is presented by Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit corporation governed by a board of vintners and local leaders. More than 200 mus ...

, United States *Festival de Villena, Spain *United Nations WTO Global Youth Tourism Summit, Italy *Julio Musical, Spain *Festival Vancouver, Canada *Koln Musik Triennale, Germany *Lake Tahoe Music Festival, United States *Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Italy *Montecatini International Opera Festival and Academy, Italy *Royal Days (Kiralyi Napok), Hungary *St.Petersburg Palaces Festival, Russia *Taichung Music Festival, Taiwan *Tuscan Sun Festival, Italy

Awards

* 2006 : Premio Galileo Award for exceptional musical achievement. * 2008 : Artistic Achievement Award from the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition. * 2009 : Spirit of Hope Award from the Childhelp Foundation for his acclaimed work with young musicians. * 2011 : Lupa Di Roma Award (co-recipient) from the Roman City Council. * 2014 : Premio Civitas, XVIII edition, Pozzuoli * 2022: Awardee of Italy’s Assoutenti 40th Anniversary Awards for dedication to the development of orchestral music as a cross-cultural tool to promote peace, unity and communication between nations.

Recordings

*2008: ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' and other orchestral works by '' Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)'', with the Russian National Orchestra on PENTATONE (PTC 5186332), SACD *2011: ''Scheherazade'', ''Capriccio Espagnol'' and other orchestral works by ''

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

(1844-1908)'', with the Russian National Orchestra on PENTATONE (PTC 5186378), SACD

References

External links

Official Website of Carlo Ponti

Website of the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponti, Carlo Jr. 1958 births Italian male conductors (music) Living people Musicians from Geneva Italian expatriates in Switzerland Italian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Italian conductors (music) 21st-century Italian male musicians