Lorenzo Viotti

Principal Guest Conductor Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director Designate Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (from 2026/27)
General Music Director Designate Zurich Opera House (from 2028/29)

Lorenzo Viotti, born 1990 in Switzerland, is one of the most captivating young musicians and currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, after serving as Musical Director of the Dutch National Opera for four seasons. His time in Amsterdam (2021-25) was marked by highly praised new productions, such as Britten's Peter Grimes, or a three-part Puccini cycle in collaboration with the acclaimed director Barrie Kosky. 

Widely admired for his charismatic presence, emotional depth, and remarkable versatility across both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Viotti appears on major podiums in the 2025/26 season, pursuing his fruitful collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, as well as making his highly anticipated debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In 2026/27 season, Viotti will become the Music Director of Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, twelve years after his sensational debut in 2014. Furthermore, the Zurich Opera House, where he has been a recurring conductor, designated him as the next General Music Director from 2028, succeeding Gianandrea Noseda. 

In the past, Viotti already enthralled audiences in Zurich with his Csárdásfürstin (2020), Werther (2018), Die tote Stadt and Die Fledermaus (2025). Continuously deepening his knowledge of operatic repertoire, he has already conducted in major opera houses across Europe and beyond, such as the Dutch National Opera, where he gave his debut back in 2019 with Cavalleria Rusticana, La Scala in Milan (Simon Boccanegra), New National Theatre Tokyo (Tosca), Opéra de Paris (Faust), Staatsoper Stuttgart (Rigoletto), or Wiener Staatsoper (Von der Liebe Tod). As a highly esteemed symphonic guest conductor, Lorenzo Viotti has also worked with numerous distinguished orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchestra Leipzig, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Münchner Philharmoniker.

Raised in a Franco-Italian musical family, Viotti studied piano, singing and percussion in Lyon, before continuing towards conducting studies with Georg Mark in Vienna and Nicolás Pasquet in Weimar. While in Vienna, Viotti continued to perform as a percussionist in several renowned ensembles and orchestras, including the Wiener Philharmoniker. After winning a series of conducting competitions, among which was the Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award 2015, he emerged on the international scene at the age of just 25. Since then, Viotti gained rapid global recognition in both orchestral and operatic music worlds. In 2017, he was named "Newcomer of the Year" by the International Opera Awards, and in 2018 held his first fixed position as Music Director of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon.