Carlo Ponti (conductor)

Carlo Ponti
Ponti in 2019

Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968) is an Italian orchestral conductor working in the United States. He is a son of late film producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and Italian actress Sophia Loren, and the elder brother of film director Edoardo Ponti.

Early life

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Ponti worked at the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut, under the direction of Harold Farberman from 1994 to 1996, worked with Mehli Mehta, Zubin Mehta, and Andrey Boreyko in Los Angeles from 1997 to 1999, and furthered his musical studies in Austria at the Vienna Musikhochschule from 1999 to 2001 under Leopold Hager and Erwin Acel.

Career

Ponti has guest conducted internationally and was the recipient of various awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. He has been associate conductor of the Russian National Orchestra from 2000 to 2018 and was music director and principal conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony from 2001 to 2013. In 2013 he founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, an ensemble emphasizing music's educational value of which he is artistic and music director. The Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra is currently performing its twelfth concert season (2026–2027) in Los Angeles.

Ponti has released two recordings with the Russian National Orchestra on the Pentatone label and his work and performances have been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC/Universal, NPR, PBS, ORF, Sky News, Spectrum, KTLA, Fox News, Leonard Lopate, Dennis Miller, Symphony Magazine, Classical KUSC, the Associated Press, American Public Media's Performance Today and America's Music Festivals.

Personal life

On 18 September 2004, Ponti married Hungarian violinist Andrea Mészáros. They have two children, both born in Geneva. Ponti and Mészáros divorced in 2022. On 26 July 2025, Carlo Ponti married Georgian fitness trainer Mariam Sharmanashvili. After the wedding, he converted to Orthodox Christianity.

Orchestral ensembles conducted by Carlo Ponti

Listed alphabetically

Festival and event appearances

Listed alphabetically

Awards

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ "Carlo Ponti - Filmweb". Filmweb.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  2. ↑ The New York Times. "Obituary Carlo Ponti". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18.
  3. 1 2 "Carlo Ponti Homepage". Carloponti.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  4. ↑ "Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, 2016". Lavirtuosi.org. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  5. ↑ "Sophia Loren Nuevamente Abuela en Ginebra". Noticias de Ginebra (in Spanish). 2012-04-16.
  6. ↑ "Sophie Loren's son married a young Georgian woman and converted to Orthodox Christianity for her". Baku.WS. 2025-07-27.
  7. ↑ "Premio Galileo 2000 - the winners of 2006 issue". Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  8. ↑ "Virginia Waring International Piano Competition - News & Events". Vwipc.org. 2016-01-16. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  9. ↑ "California Childhelp Chapters". Childhelp.org. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  10. ↑ "Tribute to Carlo Ponti". Vogue.it. 2011-12-13. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  11. ↑ "Pozzuoli. Premio Civitas al maestro Carlo Ponti - #Napoli è su NapoliTime - Eventi, Cultura, Personaggi, Politica". Napolitime.it. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  12. ↑ "LOCATION: MACELLUM-TEMPIO DI SERAPIDE – Pagina 175 – Premio Civitas". Premiocivitas.it. 1970-01-01. Archived from the original on 2015-07-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  13. ↑ "Russian Arts Foundation: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  14. ↑ "Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Capriccio espagnol - Neapolitan Song: Carlo Ponti: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.