Daniel Harding has been named the Music Director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. His contract will be effective starting in October 2024 for an initial five-year term.

The British conductor will begin his tenure with performances of Puccini’s “Tosca” continuing a long tradition of opening the season with an opera-in-concert. His first season will also include performances of Verdi’s Requiem and will also focus on masterworks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including music by Strauss, the Viennese school, Wagner, and many others.

Harding will succeed Sir Antonio Pappano, who will be come Director Emeritus after holding the post of Music Director.

In parallel, Deutsche Grammophon announced a new partnership with Daniel Harding and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and will release recordings of the inaugural performances, in particular, Puccini’s “Tosca” in the composer’s anniversary year, with future audio and audiovisual plans announced at a later date.

In a statement, Harding said,  “The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is an orchestra and chorus of extraordinary warmth and generosity, who love to tell stories and transmit their enthusiasm for the music they’re playing. Over the 25 years of working together with the orchestra we have explored a wide range of repertoire and forged a friendship that now becomes something very significant for all of us. It is a beautiful gift to be given the chance to become Music Director of a world class orchestra of such ambition in a city of incomparable historical and cultural significance.”

The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is one of the oldest musical institutions and boasts a long line of prestigious Principal Conductors and Music Directors, including Igor Markevich, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti, and Myung Whun Chung.