ABOUT

Born in Iran, with a European musical education and a cosmopolitan artistic vision, Nima Keshavarzi has established himself as one of the most versatile and dynamic conductors of his generation. He devotes himself to both operatic and symphonic repertoire a passionate advocate for Italian and Persian twentieth century and new music.

He is Principal Guest Conductor to the Iranian National Orchestra and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra (Iran) and has an artistic partnership with Camerata Strumentale in Prato (Italy) since 2021. His upcoming debuts in 2025 are with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and with Philharmonisches Orchester Bremerhaven (Germany).

Since 2015, as assistant conductor to maestro Roberto Abbado, he started his career collaborating with some of the major Italian and European Opera Houses such as Teatro dell'Opera in Rome (I masnadieri, Andrea Chénier, Benvenuto Cellini), Palau de les Arts in Valencia (A Midsummer night's dream, Tancredi), Teatro Comunale in Bologna (Macbeth), Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Le Siége de Corinthe) and Festival Verdi in Parma (Il Trovatore, Luisa Miller, Macbeth, Ernani).

Co-founder and music director of La Filharmonie - Florence Philharmonic Orchestra, he has conducted the orchestra since its debut in 2016 obtaining an enthusiastic success of the public and critics. La Filharmonie under his guidance has become one of the leading new ensembles nationwide. His recent engagements with La Filharmonie include a Mozart-Mendelssohn Symphony Cycle and an Italian tour with Enrico Bronzi as cello soloist.

He is particularly keen on new music and conducted and recorded works of contemporary composers such as Anders Hillborg, Arvo Pärt, Reza Vali, Andrea Portera, Ari Benjamin Meyers, David John Roche, Ian C. Scott, Steven Heelein, Paolo Cognetti and Paolo Marzocchi. He is member of the board and music director of the Dante 700 - International Composition Competition in Italy, broadcasted internationally on RAI (Italian Radio-Television) and co-founder of a brand-new festival "Fil_Armonia" in Florence dedicated to the music of 20th and 21st centuries.

Nima studied violin and composition at the Tehran University, the Florence Conservatory and the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. He specialized in conducting under the guidance of Alessandro Pinzauti in Florence and at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels with Bart Bouckaert, Lukas Vis and Arturo Tamayo; then he took part in conducting courses at the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena/Italy with Gianluigi Gelmetti and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne/Germany with Michael Luig. He took tuitions from Zubin Mehta, Michel Tabachnik and Donato Renzetti.

 

Mr. Keshavarzi speaks English, Italian, German, French and Persian.