The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was the first in Italy to to devote itself exclusively to the symphonic repertoire, promoting premieres of 20th-century masterpieces. Since 1908 to today it has collaborated with the greatest musicians of the century: it has been conducted by from Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, Toscanini, Furtwängler, De Sabata, Karajan, Abbado and Kirill Petrenko, among others. Its permanent conductors have been Molinari, Ferrara, Previtali, Markevitch, Schippers, Sinopoli, Gatti, Chunge, and Sir Antonio Pappano (2005-2023), who will be succeeded in October 2024 as the new Music Director by Englishman Daniel Harding. From 1983 to 1990 Leonard Bernstein was its Honorary President. The Orchestra and Chorus have been guests at major festivals: the London Proms, Lucerne Festivals, White Nights in St. Petersburg, Salzburg, and the most prestigious from concert halls, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Carnegie Hall in New York. His intense recording activity in recent years has been crowned from several international awards and prizes. Recent recordings conducted from Antonio Pappano include Verdi's Otello with Jonas Kaufmann, Cinema with Alexandre Tharaud on piano, Insieme-Opera Duets with Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier, Rossini's Messa di Gloria recently awarded at the International Classical Music Awards in the "Choral Music" section, and Puccini's Turandot with Sondra Radvanovsky and Jonas Kaufmann (March 2023, Warner Classics).

The origins of the centuries-old Accademia di Santa Cecilia are linked to the practice of choral singing: in the second half of the 1500s, a number of Chapel Masters and Cantors came together in association, effectively founding the Accademia. But it was not until the late 19th century that the Choir of theAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia began to assume a stable structure and to participate in performances of polyphonic music and the great symphonic-vocal repertoire. The choir is currently directed from Piero Monti. Its activities are carried out in the Academy's concert seasons, flanking the orchestra in the performance of great classical and modern symphonic-choral works. Numerous tours have also taken place with the orchestra at international festivals: London Proms, Salzburg Festival, Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Saint Denis Festival, Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. The Chorus has also collaborated with other prestigious international orchestras such as the Schleswig-Holstein Orchestra; Orchestra della Rai of Turin; Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirov Theater Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Orchestre National de France, Concertgebouw Orchestra. Together with the Academy Orchestra and conducted by Antonio Pappano, he has taken part to in numerous recordings that have won prestigious international recognition: Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Requiem, Four Sacred Pieces and Verdi's Aida, Rossini and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Rossini's Guillaume Tell and Petite Messe Solennelle, Britten's War Requiem, Nessun Dorma - The Puccini Album with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, Symphony no. 3 "Kaddish" by Bernstein and Verdi's Otello.

Sir Antonio Pappano has been Music Director ofAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since 2005; since 2002 he has been Music Director of London's Covent Garden. He has held other prestigious positions in the past: in 1990 he was appointed Music Director of the Norske Opera in Oslo, and from 1991 to 2002 he held the same position at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Born to London in 1959 from Italian parents, he studied piano, composition and conducting in the United States. Among the most prestigious milestones in his career are from recalling his debuts at the Vienna State Opera in 1993, the Metropolitan in New York in 1997 and the Bayreuth Festival in 1999. Antonio Pappano has conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmo-niker, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, he is a regular guest atopera the most prestigious theaters such as Staatsoper Vienna, Metropolitan New York, La Scala Milan and many others. Sir Antonio Pappano records exclusively for Warner Classics and with the Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia has recorded numerous CDs. Recent recordings include The Puccini Album with Jonas Kaufmann, the CD Anna Netrebko. Verismo (DGG) and Saint-Saëns' Third Symphony and The Carnival of the Animals, with Martha Argerich at the piano, a box set with Bernstein's Three Symphonies (International Classical Music Award 2019), Verdi'sOtello, with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, the latest release with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra is dedicated to Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben and Burleske. From 2023 Antonio Pappano will be Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and will serve as Conductor Emeritus of the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

Embodying music with unparalleled dramatic sensitivity, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. The Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician has demonstrated a deep commitment to the music of our time and has premiered more than ninety new creations. With a 30-year career, Hannigan's artistic colleagues have included Reinbert de Leeuw, Pierre Boulez, Sasha Waltz, John Zorn, Krszysztof Warlikowski, Simon Rattle, Katie Mitchell, Henri Dutilleux, Vladimir Jurowski, Gyorgy Ligeti, Kirill Petrenko, George Benjamin, Andreas Kriegenburg, and Hans Abrahamsen. He is Principal Guest Conductor of the Göteborgs Symfoniker, Première Artiste Invitée of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Associate Artist of the London Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra from Lausanne Chamber (from 2024/25 onwards) and Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has released six albums with Alpha Classics, including her latest disc, Infinite Voyage, in 2023. Barbara's commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to to create the mentoring initiatives Equilibrium Young Artists (2017) and Momentum: our Future Now (2020). Barbara resides in Finistère, on the northwest coast of France, just across the Atlantic from where she grew up to Waverley, Nova Scotia.