Donatella Flick Conducting Competition

Debut with @londonsymphonyorchestra 🤩 What a honour to conducting this world class orchestra during the @dfconducting ! Thanks for inviting me - it was a real pleasure! #conductor #competition #tb

The moment @matteo_dal_maso was announced as the winner of the 18th competition, as seen in last night's episode of Making a Maestro on Sky Arts. Bravo Matteo. 👏

🏆 BIG NEWS 🏆 I’m thrilled to finally share that I’ve won the 18th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition 🎶 I feel deeply grateful to the extraordinary musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom I’ll have the privilege of working as Assistant Conductor starting next season. My sincere thanks also go to the jury and to the wonderful Donatella Flick for this incredible opportunity. On this occasion, It was a great honor to meet and to have a conversation with King Charles III. I was truly touched to later receive a generous letter of appreciation and support written by his own hand. It is hard to express how meaningful it has been to make music with such an exceptional orchestra, and how honored I feel to now become part of the LSO family. You can watch my full concert with the London Symphony Orchestra on Sky Arts on Wednesday, May 6th at 8:00 pm. 📸 Mark Allan 🇮🇹 Sono felicissimo di poter finalmente condividere che ho vinto la 18ª edizione della Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition 🎶 Sono profondamente grato agli straordinari musicisti della London Symphony Orchestra, con i quali avrò il privilegio di lavorare come Direttore Assistente a partire dalla prossima stagione. Un sincero ringraziamento va anche alla giuria e alla meravigliosa Donatella Flick per questa incredibile opportunità. Durante il giorno finale del concorso, è stato un grande onore incontrare e avere una conversazione con Sua Maestà Re Carlo III. Sono rimasto davvero colpito nel ricevere successivamente una generosa lettera di apprezzamento e affetto scritta di suo pugno. È difficile esprimere quanto sia emozionante fare musica con un’orchestra meravigliosa come la London Symphony e quanto mi senta onorato di entrare a far parte della famiglia della LSO. Il pubblico britannico potrà vedere il mio concerto completo con la London Symphony Orchestra su Sky Arts mercoledì 6 maggio alle 20:00.

We are thrilled to announce - finally! - that the winner of the 18th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition is... Matteo Dal Maso! @matteo_dal_maso “Winning the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition feels like a dream come true,” said Matteo on his win. “I am sincerely grateful to the jury for their careful consideration and to Donatella Flick for her generous support of young conductors. A special thank you goes to the exceptional artists of the London Symphony Orchestra. It was a true joy to make music together!” Sir Antonio Pappano, Chair of the Jury and Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, said: “Huge congratulations to Matteo – his musicality, maturity and rapport with the musicians shone throughout.” Dal Maso wins an unparalleled prize package, including £15,000 awarded by Competition founder Donatella Flick and the opportunity to become Assistant Conductor with the @londonsymphonyorchestra . Congratulations Matteo! 📸 @mark.allan.photos

Who's watching Making a Maestro? So we now know that our three finalists are: @matteo_dal_maso @felix_benati @leonhardkreutzmann Well done to everyone who took part on Day 2: truly there is a lot of amazing young conducting talent out there. And so we continue... Day 3. The Final. Who will be the winner? Keep watching... Announcement incoming! 📸 @mark.allan.photos

And a few of our judges and the @londonsymphonyorchestra in action on day 2! 📸 @mark.allan.photos

Tonight! Making a Maestro continues on Sky Arts. 🔁 A recap: On day 1 of the competition, 20 conductors stepped onto the podium to conduct the @londonsymphonyorchestra . At the end of the day, the jury chose 10 to continue to day 2's semi-final. Of these, three will conduct in the final day. 📺 In episode 2: The ten conductors have two new challenges: in the morning, each conducts a concerto with a soloist - the LSO's Principal Horn Diego Incertis Sánchez and Principal Oboe Juliana Koch - and in the afternoon, two contemporary works by Sir James MacMillan and Sally Beamish. Episode 2 also features the action on day 3, and the all-important announcement of the winning conductor. Here are some photos of day 2's proceedings. We will save day 3's until after the show has gone out so as not to spoil the surprise...! 📅 Wednesday 29th April 2026 🕗 8pm BST 📍 Sky Arts and NOW streaming service 📸 @mark.allan.photos The conductors in the semi-final are: Félix Benati, France Jooyoung Chang, Austria Giovanni Conti, Italy Riley Court-Wood, United Kingdom Matteo Dal Maso, Italy Nina Haug, Switzerland Maria Keller, Germany Ingunn Korsgård Hagen, Norway Leonhard Kreutzmann, Germany Kingsley Lin, United Kingdom

Episode 2 of Making a Maestro drops tomorrow! Who will be the winner of the 2025 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition? Watch and see! 📅 Wednesday 29th April 2026 🕗 8pm BST 📍 Sky Arts and NOW streaming service

catch a glimpse of Strauss Oboe Concerto with my incredible @londonsymphonyorchestra colleagues and the talented conductors who made it to the second round of @dfconducting competition! „Making a Maestro“ on @skyarts now! (very end of the first episode ;) )

Yesterday, towards the end of episode 1 of Making a Maestro, the ten conductors going through to round 2 were announced. They are: Felix Benati, France @felix_benati Jooyoung Chang, Austria @jooysdg Giovanni Conti, Italy @conticonductor Riley Court-Wood, United Kingdom @rileycourtwoodconductor Matteo Dal Maso, Italy @matteo_dal_maso Nina Haug, Switzerland Maria Keller, Germany @maria_keller_conductor Ingunn Korsgård Hagen, Norway @ingunnkhagen Leonhard Kreutzmann, Germany @leonhardkreutzmann Kingsley Lin, United Kingdom @kingsleylin_conductor During round 2, the conductors worked with soloists - the LSO's Principal Horn Diego Incertis Sánchez playing Strauss's Second Horn Concerto and Principal Oboe Juliana Koch playing Strauss's Oboe Concerto - and on contemporary works by Sir James MacMillan and Sally Beamish. During Episode 2 we will find out which three conductors competed in the final, and crucially, who was ultimately crowned the winner... 📅 Wednesday 29th April 2026 🕗 8pm BST 📍 Sky Arts and NOW streaming service 📸 @mark.allan.photos

20 conductors await the results of day 1... who will be moving forward to day 2? Find out tonight on Making a Maestro, Sky Arts 8pm BST! 📸 © @mark.allan.photos

Ahead of tonight's broadcast of part 1 of Making a Maestro (Sky Arts 8pm BST), which follows the 20 conductors as they arrive in London - back in December 2025 - to take part in the 18th edition of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, here is a selection of photos from the first day. Featuring the conductors: Felix Benati, France Jooyoung Chang, Austria Giovanni Conti, Italy Riley Court-Wood, United Kingdom Matteo Dal Maso, Italy Nina Haug, Switzerland Daniel Hogan, United Kingdom Piotr Jaworski, Poland Maria Keller, Germany Ingunn Korsgård Hagen, Norway Leonhard Kreutzmann, Germany Julia Kurzydlak, Poland Kingsley Lin, United Kingdom Jacob Niemann, Germany Alison Norris, United Kingdom Friedrich Praetorius, Germany Roman Reshetkin, France Matthew Rhodes, United Kingdom Konstantinos Terzakis, Greece Andreas van Tol , Sweden And the jurors: Sir Antonio Pappano (Jury Chair), LSO Chief Conductor Sarah Quinn, LSO Chair Sian Edwards, Conductor Sir James MacMillan, Composer Rachel Gough, LSO Principal Bassoon Thomas Søndergård, Conductor Not forgetting the @londonsymphonyorchestra 📸 All photos © Mark Allan