Nil Venditti has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra della Toscana for the 2020/21 season. She was offered the role after her very first visit in July 2019 by the orchestra’s Artistic Director Giorgio Battistelli.
 
Venditti said: ​“When I conducted the orchestra for the first time this summer, I immediately felt a connection with them. They are one of the best orchestras in Italy for classical repertoire – their technique is excellent, and they have the clean and light articulation that is so important in this music. I’m always asking for variety when themes are repeated and each time, they created something different spontaneously and reacted to what I was showing, so the experience was wonderful. We quickly made good friendships, and I’m delighted and honoured to be able to develop this relationship.”
 
The appointment follows invitations to debuts this season with Les Siècles, Ulster Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg, with whom she premieres works by Fazil Say on 30 November, with the composer at the piano.

Aged only 24, the Italian-Turkish conductor serves as Assistant Conductor to Marc Albrecht and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. In January 2020 she makes her Amsterdam Concertgebouw debut with the NPO, as well as assisting Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. This season she also makes return guest appearances with Slovenian Philharmonic and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra.

Kerstin Elisabeth Kullerkupp wrote on the Estonian culture website Sirp: ​“Her music making was full of lively Italian energy and a burning desire to make music, while her hands were firm and clear.”

The Orchestra della Toscana was founded in 1980 in Florence, where it performs in the historic Teatro Verdi. One of its earliest Artistic Directors was Luciano Berio and under its current Artistic Director Giorgio Battistelli and Principal Conductor Daniele Rustioni, it performs a wide range of repertoire, with a special focus on contemporary music.