Giovanni POMPEO – conductor
Italian musician, after studying in his city, Matera, he trained at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in the years in which he collaborated with the theater orchestra under the baton of the most important conductors in the world (Muti, Gergiev, Luisi, Temirkanov, Levine, Chung, Sinopoli).
Essential to his musical growth and maturation were his encounters and relationships with
Maestro Fabio Luisi (whom he served as assistant to), with Maestro Aldo Ceccato, a leading exponent of Maestro Sergiu Celibidache's school, and with Maestro Nicola Samale.
The past music critic of the “Corriere della Sera” (the most important Italian newspaper)
Paolo Isotta dedicated an authoritative portrait to him in the bestseller "The virtue of the
elephant", calling him "one of the most extraordinary musicians I know".
Artistic and music director of the Orchestra of Matera and Basilicata, he successfully conducts
operas and concerts in Italy and abroad. Of particular note are the recent acclaimed concerts in the Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna with the Cappella Istropolitana Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall in New York with the New England Symphony those with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theatre of Brasilia (Brasile), Haifa Symphony Orchestra (Israel), Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra (USA), Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Tirana State Opera House, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, Mission Opera (Los Angeles, USA), Kazakhstan National Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra of Sanremo, Craiova Opera House, Bucharest National Operetta Theater, Philarmonic Orchestra of Zamosc and Lomza (Poland), Eskisehir Symphony Orchestra (Turchia), Ploiesti, Ramnicu Valcea and Pitesti Philarmonic (Romania), Varna State Opera House, Orchestra of the National Radio-Television of Serbia RTS Belgrade, Teatro Cilea Orchestra, Orchestra Scarlatti of Napoli, Orchestra Camerata XXI (Spain), Harmonie Ensemble (Valencia, Spain), Boccherini
Orchestra of Lucca, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Bari, Philharmonic Orchestra of
Calabria, International Orchestra of Italy, “Antonio Vivaldi” Orchestra, Benevento
Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Strumentale Siciliana.
His extensive repertoire spans from the Baroque to the present, with works by Puccini, J.
Strauss, Menotti, Verdi, Pergolesi, Rossini, and Mozart, and symphonic works from Beethoven
to Shostakovich and Stravinsky, from Varefrom Mozart and Cherubini to Henze and Prokofiev, from Poulenc and Saint-Sae>ns to
Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Debussy, Ravel, R. Strauss, and Rachmaninov.
He conducted the world premiere of "Musiche per Matera" by Georg Friedrich Haas,
considered "the most important composer of the 21st century" (Classic Voice Magazine). This
work, of which he was also the creator and artistic director as part of the Matera 2019
program, won the prestigious Abbiati Award from music critics as "best new work of 2019." A
work of great impact, including in the media, it was included by giornaledellamusica among
the 10 best concerts of 2019 and reviewed by major international publications.
Other world premieres conducted include Riccardo Panfili Storia di un’anima venduta, Nicola Campogrande Missa Vox Dei, Aleksande>r Peçi's Cartesian Energy and Magnetism, Roberta Vacca's Zapping P.O.P., Damiano D'Ambrosio's Stupor mundi and Canto di Azuma, Alberto Bocini's Sliding Doors, and Gabriele Cosmi's Music for Strings.
On the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the year of Matera European Capital of Culture
2019, he conducted at the Cava del Sole the Ode to Joy by L.v. Beethoven - performed by
around 2000 musicians from all over Europe - as well as the musical performances (with
soloist Stefano Bollani) for the evening Ceremony in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. He also conducted at the inauguration of Plovdiv, European Capital of Culture 2019.
He has participated in international and national festivals, collaborating with soloists such as Enrico Bronzi, Aiman Mussakhajayeva, Daniela Schillaci, Ksenia Milas, Ettore Pellegrino,
Cesare Chiacchiaretta, Kristian Benedikt, Raffaella Cardaropoli, Domenico Colaianni, Paolo Fresu, Marco Pierobon, Abigeila Voshtina, Roberta Mantegna, Francesca Sassu, Loriana
Castellano, Sandro Laffranchini, Gabriele Cassone, Marco Schiavo, Alberto Bocini, Grazia
Raimondi, Leonardo Colafelice, Nicola Marvulli, Riccardo Zamuner, Michel Bourdoncle, Carlo
Romano, Lorena Valero, Carlo Torlontano, Tehmine Schaeffer, Seven Ray, Lilia Istati, Piero
Terranova, Federica Vitali, and Renata Vari.
The next appointments include operas and concerts in Canada, Austria, USA, Italy, Spain,
Brazil, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, Israel, Albania, Portugal, Tu> rkiye.
He conceived and curated events of international importance, involving authoritative partners and obtaining prestigious awards: among them the representative plate of the President of the Republic. He also dedicated to organizing social and cultural educational projects for children and the neediest children. In this context, he promoted the creation of various children's and youth orchestras inspired by the “Abreu System” (a project to which Maestro Claudio Abbado dedicated his energies in the last years of his life).
He is teacher at the Matera Conservatory
