Phoenix Symphony names Paolo Bortolameolli next music director, setting transition timeline through the 2027–28 season
A leadership handoff after a multi-year search
The Phoenix Symphony has selected conductor Paolo Bortolameolli as its next music director, concluding a multi-year international search that involved musicians and organizational leadership. The appointment establishes a two-step transition: Bortolameolli is scheduled to serve as music director designate during the 2026–27 season before formally assuming the music director title in the 2027–28 season.
The transition follows the close of Tito Muñoz’s tenure as music director at the end of the 2023–24 season. The Symphony has maintained continuity in artistic planning while advancing a formal search process that included recurring feedback from orchestra musicians during guest-conductor weeks and a committee structure that combined musician, board, and staff participation.
Who Paolo Bortolameolli is
Bortolameolli is a Chilean-Italian conductor whose professional work spans symphonic and operatic repertory. In Chile, he has held leadership posts tied to major institutions, including roles connected to the National Opera of Chile and the Santiago Philharmonic, with a transition into expanded responsibilities beginning in 2026.
In the Phoenix market, he has already appeared as a guest conductor with The Phoenix Symphony, leading subscription programming that places him within the organization’s ongoing evaluation of potential artistic leaders.
What the transition structure signals for programming
By separating the designation year (2026–27) from the first full season in the role (2027–28), the Symphony is positioning the incoming music director to participate in planning, artistic direction, and institutional integration ahead of the formal start date. In orchestral administration, this structure typically supports long-range scheduling, guest-artist alignment, and repertoire planning cycles that can extend multiple seasons into the future.
- 2023–24: Tito Muñoz’s final season as music director
- 2026–27: Paolo Bortolameolli scheduled as music director designate
- 2027–28: Bortolameolli scheduled to assume the music director title
Context: stability, stakeholder input, and community role
The Symphony has framed its search and transition planning around institutional priorities that extend beyond the concert hall, emphasizing the orchestra’s role as a cultural asset for Phoenix and Arizona and the importance of leadership that aligns with community-facing goals. The selection also arrives during a period when many U.S. orchestras are managing leadership transitions and long planning horizons shaped by touring, education work, and changing audience habits.
The coming seasons will clarify how Bortolameolli’s artistic profile and international commitments translate into Phoenix-specific programming choices, guest collaborations, and longer-term repertoire direction once the designation year begins in 2026–27.
What happens next
The Symphony’s near-term focus will be on defining Bortolameolli’s Phoenix responsibilities during the 2026–27 designation season and mapping how the organization’s artistic identity evolves into 2027–28. Further details are expected to emerge through season announcements, guest-conducting schedules, and the Symphony’s planning cycle leading into his first season in the role.