Award-winning Italian maestro Riccardo Frizza is a galvanic presence on the podium, inspiring performances as exhilarating as they are expressive. Championed by Alberto Zedda, Bruno Cagli, and Gian Carlo Menotti, he is a leading exponent of bel canto repertoire, collaborating with a who’s who of today’s most iconic singers at opera houses from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In the concert hall, he graces the podiums of such world-class ensembles as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony. Under Menotti’s guidance, he made his acclaimed debut with New York’s Juilliard Orchestra in 2001, & led his first full symphonic concert with the Philharmonia Orchestra at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2002. He gave first performances with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in 2005 & the legendary Leipzig Gewandhaus two years later, besides appearing with a host of high-profile ensembles, including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Bayerische Staatsorchester of Munich, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Tokyo Symphony, Kyoto Symphony, & Russian National Orchestra. Over the course of his concert career, the conductor has undertaken concerto collaborations with many of today’s foremost instrumentalists, violinists Joshua Bell & Ray Chen, cellist Steven Isserlis, & pianists Hélène Grimaud & Simon Trpceski.