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Three incredibly exciting conductors will grace the stage at Peabody Auditorium during a fabulous week of concerts at the 2005 Florida International Festival! Maestros Marin Alsop, James DePreist and Antonio Pappano will lead the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) as they celebrate their centenary year during the 17-day Florida International Festival, July 15-31, 2005.
Marin Alsop is the most prominent female conductor on the international music scene. She also is the first woman conductor to participate in the Florida International Festival, having made her Daytona Beach debut during Festival 2001. Alsop has been remained busy since Festival 2001. She was appointed Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2002, making her the first woman to head a major British orchestra. In 2003 she again made history as the first artist to win Gramophone’s “Artist of the Year” award and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s “Conductor’s Award” in the same season. Her 2003 recording with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was selected by Gramophone as Editor’s Choice, and the New York Times said “the Bournemouth Symphony, in technically adept, bracing performances, plays like a top-notch orchestra”. She currently is recording the complete Brahms Symphonies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Alsop is a native of New York City. She attended Yale University and received her Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School.
Making his Festival debut is James DePreist, considered by many to be one of America’s finest conductors. DePreist is the Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony and Principal Artistic Advisor for the Phoenix Symphony. He recently was named Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at the Juilliard School. Over the last 3 decades, DePreist has appeared as a guest conductor with every major North American orchestra. He makes his London debut with the LSO at the Barbican in April 2005. With more than 50 recordings to his credit, his repertoire includes a celebrated Shostakovich series with the Helsinki Philharmonic and 15 recordings with the Oregon Symphony. DePreist has been awarded 13 honorary doctorates and is the author of two books of poetry. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and is a recipient of the Insignia of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland and the Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit of Monaco.
Rising star Antonio Pappano is an exciting addition to Festival 2005. Pappano spent his formative years in the United States, where he launched his career as a pianist for his vocalist father while he studied piano, composition and conducting. His work as a repetiteur and assistant conductor led to engagements in theaters worldwide. At age 30, Pappano was appointed music director of the Norwegian National Opera and after two years, he joined the prestigious Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he worked for a decade. Pappano became Musical Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2002. This season, he will conduct Don Giovanni, Aïda, and Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, Faust and Peter Grimes. Beginning in 2005, Pappano becomes music director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. | 
