Conductor Ari Pelto Reveals Lineup of 2023/24 Engagements

Conductor Ari Pelto has announced his conducting engagements for the 2023/24 season, which will bring him to the podium to conduct opera, ballet, and symphonic music with ensembles across the U.S. The upcoming season also marks Pelto's first as the Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (SP&O), an appointment the organization announced earlier this year.

Widely known for performances hailed as "poetic, earthy, vigorous" and for his "highly individual" interpretations, the Finnish-American conductor will lead the SP&O in three of the ensemble's five philharmonic programs this season, all of which will be performed at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in downtown Sacramento. 

On November 18, 2023, he will conduct the orchestra in Brahms's Fourth Symphony, Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, and Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor, featuring soloist Zlatomir Fung. On January 20, 2024, Pelto returns to the podium for a program that includes Sibelius's Third Symphony, the suite from Prokofiev's film score to Lieutenant Kijé, and Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, featuring celebrated soloist Michelle Cann. And on March 9, 2024, Pelto leads his orchestra in a wide-ranging program featuring Florence Price's symphonic poem The Oak, Fauré's Suite from Pélleas and Mélisande, and Ravel's kaleidoscopic orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Maestro Pelto makes his debut with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic (September 30 - October 1, 2023) in Brahms' Second Symphony and collaborating with violinist Michael Hanson in Bruch's First Violin Concerto.

In the operatic world, Pelto will conduct three productions at Opera Colorado next season, where he has served as Music Director since 2015: Mozart's Don Giovanni (November 4–12, 2023), directed by David Lefkowich; Wagner's Flying Dutchman (February 24–March 3, 2024), directed by Kathleen Smith Belcher; and Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah (May 4–12, 2024), directed by Keturah Stickann. All performances will take place at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at Denver Performing Arts Complex.

A masterful collaborator with dancers, the 2023/24 season also offers Maestro Pelto's next engagement in his longstanding relationship with the Atlanta Ballet as Principal Guest Conductor: a 19-show run of Tchaikovsky's beloved Nutcracker (December 8–26, 2023). Choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, Atlanta Ballet's production will bring together Pelto and the company's dancers and orchestra as they transport audiences to The Nutcracker's magical winter wonderland.

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