Sir Antonio Pappano has been Music Director ofAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since 2005; since 2002 he has been Music Director of London's Covent Garden. He has held other prestigious positions in the past: in 1990 he was appointed Music Director of the Norske Opera in Oslo, and from 1991 to 2002 he held the same position at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Born to London in 1959 from Italian parents, he studied piano, composition and conducting in the United States. Among the most prestigious milestones in his career are from recalling his debuts at the Vienna State Opera in 1993, the Metropolitan in New York in 1997 and the Bayreuth Festival in 1999. Antonio Pappano has conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmo-niker, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, he is a regular guest atopera the most prestigious theaters such as Staatsoper Vienna, Metropolitan New York, La Scala Milan and many others. Sir Antonio Pappano records exclusively for Warner Classics and with the Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia has recorded numerous CDs. Recent recordings include The Puccini Album with Jonas Kaufmann, the CD Anna Netrebko. Verismo (DGG) and Saint-Saëns' Third Symphony and The Carnival of the Animals, with Martha Argerich at the piano, a box set with Bernstein's Three Symphonies (International Classical Music Award 2019), Verdi'sOtello, with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, the latest release with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra is dedicated to Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben and Burleske. From 2023 Antonio Pappano will be Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and will serve as Conductor Emeritus of the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

The artistic activities of German Friedemann Eichhorn, one of the most creative and versatile artists of his generation, range from performing, with period instruments, music from the early Baroque period to classical and contemporary works with renowned orchestras and ensembles. Eichhorn rediscovers and records, and is the first to to do so, the complete version of the violin concertos by French virtuoso Pierre Rode. He studied with Valery Gradow, Alberto Lysy and Margaret Pardee and graduated from the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, the International Menuhin Music Academy and the Juilliard School. He holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Mainz. He is the author of articles for encyclopedic dictionaries and edits violin scores for publishers G. Henle and Schott Music. He is professor of violin at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and is artistic director of the Kronberg Academy.

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was the first orchestra in Italy to devote itself exclusively to the symphonic repertoire, giving premieres of major masterpieces of the 1900s, such as Respighi's Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome. Founded in 1908, the Orchestra has been conducted by some of the major musical figures of the 20th century: from Mahler, Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Hindemith, Toscanini, Furtwängler, De Sabata, Karajan and Abbado to the most impressive performers of our day including Gergiev, Thielemann, Dudamel, Temirkanov while Bernardino Molinari, Franco Ferrara, Fernando Previtali, Igor Markevitch, Thomas Schippers, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti, and Myung-Whun Chung have been its Music Directors. Leonard Bernstein was Honorary President from 1983 to 1990. With Sir Antonio Pappano in the role of Music Director since 2005, the stature of the Orchestra has enjoyed extraordinary success, building an international reputation for itself. With Pappano at the helm, the Orchestra has appeared at some of the major music festivals including the Proms in London, White Nights in St. Petersburg, Lucerne Festival, Salzburg Festival and has performed in some of the world's best-known venues, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, La Scala in Milan, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Semperoper in Dresden, Carnegie Hall in New York.Santa Cecilia Orchestra records extensively for Warner Classic. Recent releases, under Pappano, include Nessun Dorma, The Puccini Album with tenor Jonas Kaufmann (Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015 for The New York Times), which made the world charts, Schumann's Symphonies no. 2 and no. 4, Elgar's Symphony no. 1 (ICA Classics), the CD "Anna Netrebko. Verismo" (DGG), Le Carnaval des Animaux with Martha Argerich, the Bernstein's Symphonies (Warner Classics), Verdi's Otello with Jonas Kaufmann (Sony Classical), Tudor Queens with Diana Damrau (Warner Classics) and Strauss: Ein Heldenleben/Burleske with Bertrand Chamayou (Warner Classics).