Conductor Claudio Vandelli (Italy)

Italian conductor Claudio Vandelli studied piano, clarinet and conducting in Milano, his birth town. He then studied clarinet with Antony Pay and conducting with Sergiu Celibidache and Carlo Maria Giulini, among others.

From the age of 19, part of his professional life has been devoted to recognizing and shaping young talented professional orchestral musicians. From 1989 to 1996 he was responsible of musician selections, assistant conductor and then guest conductor of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra. With this orchestra he lead the first recording of "Mosaïques" by Iannis Xenakis and its Italian première at the Roma-Europa Festival.

In 1999 he formed the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra. He was its Director of Music Department and James Levine's assistant until 2007. During this period the orchestra was often recognized by the press as the leading training orchestra for young professionals worldwide.

Claudio Vandelli worked with Verbier guest conductors. Among them: Yuri Bashmet, Jiri Belohlávek, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Mstislav Rostropovich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Yuri Temirkanov.

He conducted the first international tour of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, in April 2005.

Claudio Vandelli has played and conducted in major halls, including Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, "Palais des Festival" in Cannes, the Pope summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Prince Ranieri Palace in Monte-Carlo.

Guest of the Verbier Festival & Academy, he conducted at the "Festival d'Aix-en-Provence", at "Bashmet" Festival in Minsk, at "BeMus" Festival in Belgrade, at the Sochi Festival in Russia, at the European Classic Festival Ruhr in Germany.

As a guest conductor he has performed in Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Rumania, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United States.

He is permanent guest conductor of the "Novaya Rossiya" State Symphony Orchestra in Moscow. After his debut concert in the Grand Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2004, conducting Strauss' Don Juan, Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto with Aleksander Melnikov and Mahler's 1st Symphony, followed Verdi's Requiem, Brahms' 4th symphony, Mahler's Symphony no. 5, and, next October, Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra".