Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968) is an Italian orchestral

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

working in the United States. He is the son of late film producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and Italian actress

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

, and the older brother of film director

Edoardo Ponti Edoardo Ponti (born 6 January 1973) is an Italian director. He is the younger son of actress Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and the brother of conductor Carlo Ponti Jr. Early life Ponti was born on 6 January 1973 in Geneva, Swit ...

Early life

Born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, Ponti worked at the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut, under the direction of

Harold Farberman Harold Farberman (November 2, 1929 – November 24, 2018) was an American conductor, composer and percussionist. Biography Farberman studied percussion at Juilliard, and composition at the New England Conservatory and at Tanglewood with Aaron Cop ...

from 1994–96, worked with

Mehli Mehta Mehli Mehta (25 September 1908 – 19 October 2002) was an Indian conductor and violinist. Early life Mehta was born in Bombay, India to a Parsi family. His involvement in music stemmed from his birth. As a young violinist his main musical inf ...

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

, and

Andrey Boreyko Andrey Boreyko (, ; born 22 July 1957) is a Polish people, Polish-Russian conductor. Biography Boreyko has Polish ancestry on his father's side and Russian ancestry on his mother's side. Boreyko was born in Saint Petersburg. At the Rimsky-Korsa ...

in Los Angeles from 1997-99, and furthered his musical studies in Austria at the Vienna Musikhochschule from 1999 to 2001 under

Leopold Hager Leopold Hager (born 6 October 1935, Salzburg) is an Austrian conductor known for his interpretations of works by the Viennese Classics (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert). Hager studied piano, organ, harpsichord, conducting, and composition a ...

and Erwin Acel.

Career

He has guest conducted internationally and was the recipient of various awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. Ponti has been associate conductor of the

Russian National Orchestra The Russian National Orchestra () was founded in Moscow in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. It was the first Russian orchestra to perform at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City and in Israel. History The RNO's first recording (1991 ...

from 2000 to 2018 and was music director and principal conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony from 2001 to 2013. In 2013 he founded the

Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra The Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra (also known as LAV) is an instrumental ensemble of professional musicians based in Los Angeles, California, committed to the support and advocacy of music education in schools and the community. LAV supports mus ...

, an ensemble emphasizing music's educational value of which he is artistic and music director. The

is currently performing its eleventh concert season (2025–2026) in Los Angeles. Ponti has released two recordings with the Russian National Orchestra on the Pentatone label and his work and performances have been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC/Universal, NPR, PBS, ORF, Sky News, Spectrum, KTLA, Fox News, Leonard Lopate, Dennis Miller, ''Symphony Magazine'', Classical KUSC, the Associated Press, American Public Media's ''Performance Today'' and ''America's Music Festivals''.

Orchestral ensembles conducted by Carlo Ponti

''Listed alphabetically'' *ADDA Simfonica *Alba Regia Symphony Orchestra *

American Youth Symphony The American Youth Symphony (AYS) was an orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States, It was founded in 1964. History AYS was founded in 1964 by conductor Mehli Mehta (father of Zubin Mehta and Zarin Mehta), then Director of the O ...

*Budapest Concert Orchestra *Budapest Strings Orchestra *

Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an orchestra based in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. History Founded by the Cape Town City Council as the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra, the CPO held its inaugural concert on 28 February ...

*Cape Town Youth Orchestra *

Castile and Leon Symphony Orchestra Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain *Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha *Kingdom of ...

*Cyprus Symphony Orchestra *Festival Orchestra NAPA *

*Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria *

Moscow Chamber Orchestra The Moscow Chamber Orchestra (MCO) is a chamber orchestra run under the auspices of the Moscow Philharmonia, a state-run enterprise, formerly under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture (Soviet Union) and now, Ministry of Culture of Russian Fe ...

*Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra *

Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia is a Spanish orchestra, created in 1992 and based in A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is ...

*Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino *Orchestra della Magna Grecia *

Málaga Philharmonic The Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra ( 'OFM') is a Spanish orchestra based in Málaga. Founded in 1991, the Philharmonic plays regularly at the in Málaga. Since 2014, its principal conductor has been Manuel Hernández-Silva. History The Málaga P ...

Orchestra *Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester *Coro e Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo *Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg *

Orquesta de Valencia The Valencia Orchestra (, ) is a symphony orchestra in Valencia, Spain. Founded in 1943 as the Valencia Municipal Orchestra, and a member of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS), it is ''not to be confused with'' the Orquesta de ...

*Pro Arte Orchestra *

Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra is an Italian orchestra founded in 1993, which began a collaboration with the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Since 1995, the orchestra is best known for its key role in bringing to life the music of Ennio Morricone during ...

*Orchestra della Repubblica di San Marino *Samara Philharmonic Orchestra * San Bernardino Symphony *

Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra The Slovak Philharmonic or Slovak State Philharmonic (Slovenská filharmónia) is a Slovak symphony orchestra based in Bratislava. Founded in 1949, the orchestra has resided since the 1950s in the Baroque-era Reduta Bratislava concert hall const ...

* Sphinx Symphony Orchestra *Chorus and Orchestra of the State Opera of Georgia *Taurida Symphony Orchestra *

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...

Orchestra *

Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir The Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir (fully titled in ) is a professional Ukrainian ensemble founded in 1943. The choir was founded in 1943 in Kharkiv to promote and spread Ukrainian folk music and dance traditions. The initiator and the first l ...

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1947, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at the Centennial Concert Hall. Including travelling performances, the WSO presents an average of ...

*UCLA Philharmonia Orchestra *

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (UPO, Russian: Уральский академический филармонический оркестр) is one of the most recognized Russian orchestras with 87 years of history. The collective of 101 musicians is ba ...

Festival and event appearances

''Listed alphabetically'' *Avila Primavera Fest, Spain *Bratislava Spring Music Festival, Slovakia *Europaischer Kulturpreis, Austria *Festival d'Echternach, France *

Festival Napa Valley Festival Napa Valley is a music, food, wine and lifestyle festival held in Napa Valley, California. It is presented by Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit corporation governed by a board of vintners and local leaders. More than 200 mu ...

, United States *Festival de Villena, Spain *United Nations WTO Global Youth Tourism Summit, Italy *Julio Musical, Spain *Festival Vancouver, Canada *Koln Musik Triennale, Germany *Lake Tahoe Music Festival, United States *Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Italy *Montecatini International Opera Festival and Academy, Italy *Royal Days (Kiralyi Napok), Hungary *St.Petersburg Palaces Festival, Russia *Taichung Music Festival, Taiwan *Tuscan Sun Festival, Italy

Awards

* 2006 : Premio Galileo Award for exceptional musical achievement. * 2008 : Artistic Achievement Award from the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition. * 2009 : Spirit of Hope Award from the Childhelp Foundation for his acclaimed work with young musicians. * 2011 : Lupa Di Roma Award (co-recipient) from the Roman City Council. * 2014 : Premio Civitas, XVIII edition, Pozzuoli * 2022: Awardee of Italy’s Assoutenti 40th Anniversary Awards for dedication to the development of orchestral music as a cross-cultural tool to promote peace, unity and communication between nations. * 2023: Ordine della Stella D’Italia distinction conferred by the President of the Italian Republic on the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for contributing to the worldwide development of classical music education and performance.

Recordings

*2008: ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' and other orchestral works by ''

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

(1839-1881)'', with the

on PENTATONE (PTC 5186332), SACD *2011: ''Scheherazade'', ''Capriccio Espagnol'' and other orchestral works by ''

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

(1844-1908)'', with the

on PENTATONE (PTC 5186378), SACD

References

External links

Official Website of Carlo Ponti

Website of the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponti, Carlo Jr. 1958 births Italian male conductors (music) Living people Musicians from Geneva Italian expatriates in Switzerland Italian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Italian conductors (music) 21st-century Italian male musicians Loren–Ponti family