ALFONSO SCARANO NAMED CHIEF CONDUCTOR OF THE THAILAND PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
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.