GIANMARIA GRIGLIO, Conductor

Winner of a fellowship at the Bayreuther Festspiele, Gianmaria Griglio’s conducting has been praised for his “energy” and “fine details”, quickly captivating his audiences time and again with his vibrant and dynamic interpretations.

Long an advocate of contemporary music, Gianmaria Griglio took part in the first recording of music by American composer Irwin Bazelon, conducted the world premiere of Harold Farberman’s opera The Song of Eddie, a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize, and has served as Music Director of International Opera Theater Philadelphia for four years, in addition to appear as guest conductor of many orchestras around the world. Gianmaria has been invited regularly as a guest teacher at the Conductors Institute, at Bard College, NY.

Gianmaria Griglio is presently Music Director of Opera Odyssey.

Demystifying conducting

"There's always been a lot of talking about the "magic" of conducting: truth is that, like in all other arts, the technical aspect of it is something that everyone can learn and perfect, but it's something that needs to go beyond beating repetitive patterns endlessly. It was a revelation to learn from one of my teachers, the great conductor Harold Farberman, that there was a practical approach to replace formula patterns and create a new technique from the music itself.

Since then, it has given me immense joy to share this knowledge and help to create a new generation of conductors, fully conscious of the direct connections that lie between gestures and sound."