Happy Birthday, Riccardo Chailly!

The Italian conductor turns 71 today

Born in 1953 in Milan, Chailly is the son of Luciano Chailly, a composer and former music director at La Scala. Riccardo took his earliest lessons from his father, studying composition and piano.

Following studies in Perugia, Rome, and Milan, at the age of 20, Chailly became the assistant to Claudio Abbado at La Scala, where he made his debut in a production of Massenet's Werther.

Chailly has held directorships at several of the world's best orchestras, including the Gewandhausorchester, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony, and the Teatro Comunale of Bologna.

He also regularly conducts ensembles such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

In 2015, Chailly returned to his home orchestra at La Scala, where he has stayed ever since. He is also presently the Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

Chailly is the recipient of a number of honors, including the Grand’Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana and the Cavaliere di Gran Croce. He is an Honorary Member of London's Royal Academy of Music and an Officer of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.