Maestro Steven Mercurio is an internationally acclaimed conductor and composer whose musical versatility encompasses the symphonic and operatic worlds. After receiving his Masters degree from the Juilliard School he became Music Director of the Spoleto Festival for five years, and, Principal Conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Maestro Mercurio is also a sought after collaborator for many award winning recordings, arrangements and film projects. For the stage, he has conducted more than forty-five different operas in seven different languages. His engagements have taken him to many of the world’s best loved opera houses including San Francisco, Washington, Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, Opera Pacific, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Cincinnati, as well as La Monnaie of Bruxelles, i Bonn Opera, English National Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino, Festival di Spoleto, Teatro Massimo di Palermo. In addition to Maestro Mercurio’s operatic repertoire, his symphonic appearances have included; the London Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, thw Royal Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Sacramento and San Diego Symphony Orchestras in addition to his own Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Maestro Mercurio has conducted opera and symphonic pieces for several telecasts including the “PBS broadcast special “American Dream – Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty concert”. His recent recordings include “Il Trovatore,” “Pagliacci,” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” for Decca Records and “Manon Lescaut” with the Teatro de la Maestranza, Seville. Maestro Mercurio’s relationship with SONY Classical has led him to collaborate on a great number of recordings, most notably, “Christmas in Vienna” with the Three Tenors, Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti for CD and home video, and a Grammy Award winning CD with Chick Corea.