HISTORY OF THE COMPETITION

On 23 November 1956 Guido Cantelli, a thirty-five-year-old conductor and protégée of Arturo Toscanini, died on a plane crash in Orly, France. Five years later, in 1961, the Provincial Touristic Board of Novara, hometown of Cantelli and the place where he held his last concert, promoted the Premio Cantelli for young orchestra conductors. Jury members were orchestra conductors, directors of conservatories, and music critics.

On 23 November 1956 Guido Cantelli, a thirty-five-year-old conductor and protégée of Arturo Toscanini, died on a plane crash in Orly, France. Five years later, in 1961, the Provincial Touristic Board of Novara, hometown of Cantelli and the place where he held his last concert, promoted the Premio Cantelli for young orchestra conductors. Jury members were orchestra conductors, directors of conservatories, and music critics.

After the great success of the revival of Premio Cantelli last year on the occasion of the centenary of the great conductor’s birth, this year the twelfth edition will be dedicated to Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti, a member of the jury of the last edition in 1980 who had joyfully accepted to chair the jury of this new edition, working with the artistic director until his untimely death in August 2021.