Igor Longato

Executive and Artistic director

  Born in Lugano and raised in a family of musicians, he studied piano, organ, harpsichord, choir conducting, composition and orchestra conducting. He graduated from the “Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan and continued his education in prestigious institutions such as the ICEM Mozart of Lausanne, the Mozarteum of Salzburg and the Musikhochschule of Lucerne. He studied piano with Ernesto Esposito, Piero Rattalino, Fausto Zadra, Ralf Nattkemper, Boris Bloch and Hubert Harry. He obtained a Master’s degree in Conducting from the Musikhochschule in Lucerne where he studied orchestral conducting with Ralf Weikert. After completing his piano diploma in 1992, his concert activity gained momentum having won an important competition for Musical Youth. He then studied the lyrical repertoire and its traditions with important Italian singers. He held concerts as a soloist and guest conductor in many countries, including the United States, Turkey, Belarus, Albania, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, India, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Russia, and Ukraine. He was invited by prestigious international concert organizations such as the Istanbul International Music and Dance Festival, the Valencia Mediterranean Festival, Lucerne Festival (where he collaborated with Maestro Bernhard Haitink for the Masterclasses), and in numerous other productions such as the preparation of the Lucerne Festival Academy Choir in the project “Coro” by Luciano Berio, directed by Maestro Simon Rattle in 2014. He performed with The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (USA); Verona Filarmonici, I Pomeriggi Musicali, I Virtuosi Italiani, The soloists of La Scala in Milan (Italy); Bourgàs Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ruse Opera Orchestra (Bulgaria); ‘Mihail Jora’ Symphony Orchestra of Bacau (Romania); State Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus; Swiss-Italian Soloists, Collegium Musicum Luzern, Perpetuum Mobile, Swiss Radio Television Choir, Arts Festival Orchestra, Alpen Sinfonie Orchester (Switzerland); Kiev Soloists (Ukraine).