Boston Ballet Announces Mischa Santora as New Music Director

Boston Ballet is pleased to announce that Mischa Santora has been appointed the new music director. Most recently, Santora was the artistic director of the Spotlight Series at MacPhail Center for Music and the Minneapolis Music Company. He guest conducted for seven Boston Ballet performances of John Cranko's Romeo & Juliet last season and will conduct for the first time in his new role for Mikko Nissinen's The Nutcracker, which opens on Nov 29, 2018 at the Boston Opera House.

"Mischa Santora is gifted artistically and administratively, and I am thrilled he is joining our dance community. With his impressive symphonic background, I look forward to seeing how he takes the music and the orchestra to new heights in this and future seasons," said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen.

As the artistic director of the Spotlight Series at MacPhail Center for Music and the Minneapolis Music Company, Santora curated innovative and interdisciplinary performances around the Twin Cities. A champion of new music, he recently premiered works by Sally Beamish, Timo Andres, and Steve Heitzeg with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra.

In North America, Santora has appeared with the Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Louisville Orchestras; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Houston, National, New Jersey, Kansas City, Phoenix, Indianapolis, North Carolina, Hartford, Princeton, and Hamilton (Ontario) Symphonies; as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

In Europe and the Middle East, he has led the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Basel and Lucerne Symphony Orchestras, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Budapest Matáv Symphony, the Miskolc Symphony, the Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra's Chorus, the Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

Born to Hungarian parents in the Netherlands, Santora moved to Switzerland at the age of three where he began to study violin with his father, a former member of the Lucerne Symphony. After he received a diploma in violin and teaching from the Academy for School and Church Music in Lucerne, Santora continued his violin studies with Professor Thomas Brandis, former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Santora subsequently undertook conducting studies with Otto-Werner Mueller at the Curtis Institute of Music.

The Boston Ballet Orchestra (BBO), the second largest musical organization in New England, has earned acclaim for its talent and versatility. BBO performs a wide range of repertoire and has released four albums, including a best-selling recording of The Nutcracker. Beatrice Jona Affron has been serving as Boston Ballet's principal guest conductor since 2016 and will continue in this role. Affron will conduct Boston Ballet's 2018-2019 season opener Genius at Play September 6-16 at the Boston Opera House.

"Boston is fortunate to have a world-renowned ballet company that honors its rich heritage and pushes the boundaries of dance into the future. I feel fortunate to be a part of that future by joining Boston Ballet," said Santora. "I received such a warm welcome when I conducted Cranko's Romeo & Juliet last season as their guest. I am excited to be welcomed back in my new role at this beloved arts organization."

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