Giorgio Battistelli has been named Artistic director of the Festival Puccini di Torre del Lago.

Giorgio de Ghingaro, il sindaco di Viareggio, and Maria Laura Simonetti, the president of the Fondazione Festival Pucciniano, announced the news which also revealed that Alberto Veronesi will become music director.

In a press Battistelli said, “In this new role that I take charge of for the next three years, I will not only look at the programming but all the parallel activities with a project that will look at the cultural identity Festival Puccini di Torre del Lago.”

Meanwhile, Simonetti said, “The new positions and renewed project as it has been announced will help the Festival Puccini di Torre del Lago grow both artistically as well as culturally.”

Battistelli studied composition at the Conservatorio dell’Aquila and his compositions have been presented at the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, La Biennale, Berlin Biennale, Teatro alla Scala, and Teatro Comunale di Firenze, among others.

He has worked with such distinguished conductors as Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Ádám Fischer, MyungWhun Chung, and Susanna Mälkki.

The 2020 Festival Puccini di Torre del Lago is set to open in July.