(Credit: Mark Allan)

Matteo Dal Maso has been named the winner of the 18th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition.

The 28-year-old Italian conductor receives a prize package including £15,000 awarded by competition founder Donatella Flick and the opportunity to serve as Assistant Conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra. In the role, he will work alongside the LSO’s principal and guest conductors on concert preparation, participate in the orchestra’s education and outreach program LSO Discovery, accompany the orchestra on tour, and conduct the LSO in concert should the opportunity arise.

Dal Maso was chosen from three finalists following a competition final at LSO St Luke’s featuring music by Verdi, Brahms, and Rimsky-Korsakov. He was joined in the final by French conductor Félix Benati, 29, and German conductor Leonhard Kreutzmann, 22.

The jury was chaired by Sir Antonio Pappano and included conductors Sian Edwards and Thomas Søndergård, composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan, and LSO musicians Rachel Gough and Sarah Quinn.

The competition was documented for a new Sky Arts series, “Making a Maestro,” which also featured a visit from His Majesty King Charles III to the finalists during rehearsals. Dal Maso’s winning concert with the London Symphony Orchestra will be broadcast in full on the final episode of Making a Maestro on Wednesday, May 6 on Sky Arts.

Established in 1990 by Donatella Flick, the biennial competition has launched the careers of many distinguished conductors.