Roberto Abbado studied conducting at Teatro La Fenice in Venice and at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1991, he made his U.S. debut with St. Luke’s Orchestra. Since then, he has regularly appeared as a guest conductor with renowned orchestras in the U.S. and Europe, including the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, as well as the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, and many others. From 1991 to 1998, he served as Music Director of the Munich Rundfunkorchester, later holding the same position at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia (2015 to 2019) and at the Festival Verdi in Parma (2018 to 2022). Roberto Abbado has conducted numerous world premieres and opera productions, including Fedora and Ernani at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Gioconda, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the world premiere of Fabio Vacchi’s Teneke at La Scala, Aida and La traviata at the Bavarian State Opera, and more. At the Vienna State Opera, Roberto Abbado has previously conducted, among others, I vespri siciliani and La cenerentola. Currently, he is Music Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and is the designated Music Director of the Korean National Symphony Orchestra starting in 2026.