Antonio Pappano

Antonio Pappano, a British Italian conductor with broad expertise in opera, joined the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden as Music Director in 2002. Pappano was born in 1959 in Epping to working-class Italian parents. He lived in public housing in London before moving at age 13 to Connecticut, where his mother cleaned offices and father worked in restaurants and taught singing. Young Tony played the piano for his father’s students and, at age 21, began work as a rehearsal pianist for New York City Opera. After apprenticing with conductor Daniel Barenboim, Pappano made his conducting debut in 1987 with the Norwegian National Opera’s production of La Bohème (1896). By 1990, he became the company’s Music Director before spending a decade at the helm of La Monnaie in Brussels. Unflashy but energetic, Pappano has a particular understanding of singers. Crediting his work ethic to his family’s immigrant roots and determination, in addition to his London post, he became Music Director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Rome. Pappano received a knighthood in 2012.