Professional Artist Management for Mats Thiersch
Francesco Cagnasso
Music Director of Sursee Theater
Future Engagements
Musikkollegium Winterthur
Mittelsächsische Philharmonie Freiberg
Youth Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz
Future Engagements
Musikkollegium Winterthur
Mittelsächsische Philharmonie Freiberg
Youth Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz
The Italian-Swiss conductor Francesco Cagnasso is considered one of the most promising young orchestral conductors of his generation. From January 2024 to June 2025, he served as Assistant Conductor to Michael Sanderling with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, where he gained significant artistic experience and was closely involved in the orchestra's musical work.
From an early stage of his career, Francesco Cagnasso has collaborated with numerous renowned orchestras in Switzerland and abroad, including the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, the Mecklenburg State Orchestra Schwerin, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Bodensee Philharmonic Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, and the Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Francesco Cagnasso is also highly active in the field of music theatre. His recent productions include Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes (2025) as well as Bohuslav Martinů's Zweimal Alexander and Messertränen. In addition, he has conducted operetta and music theatre works such as Im weißen Rössl, Gräfin Mariza, Der Zigeunerbaron, and Die Herzogin von Chicago.
From 2022 to 2024, he served as assistant to Michael Francis with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Further important assistantships led him to work with François-Xavier Roth at the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne (2022 – Momentum: Our Future, Now) and with Kent Nagano in Hamburg.
He has attracted international attention through his success in major conducting competitions, reaching the semifinal of the German Conducting Award 2025, the round of sixteen at the Malko Competition for Young Conductors 2024, and the semifinal of the IX Jorma Panula International Conducting Competition 2024. From 2021 to 2023, he was a scholarship holder of the Forum Dirigieren program of the German Music Council.
Francesco Cagnasso has attended masterclasses with Daniele Gatti, Michael Sanderling, Tomáš Netopil, Michael Francis, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolás Pasquet, and Ole Kristian Ruud. He completed his Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting in 2024 at the Zurich University of the Arts, studying with Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller, following earlier studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre with Ulrich Windfuhr.
Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Schumann: Manfred / Honegger: Pastorale d'été / Keller: Signale (World Premiere) / Schoeck Violin Concerto), Philharmonie Freiberg (Haydn: Symphony No. 95 / Britten: "A Time There Was" / Webern Langsamer Satz / Hindemith Symphony "Mathis der Maler") and Youth Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz with Mahler Symphony No. 2.
From an early stage of his career, Francesco Cagnasso has collaborated with numerous renowned orchestras in Switzerland and abroad, including the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, the Mecklenburg State Orchestra Schwerin, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Bodensee Philharmonic Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, and the Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Francesco Cagnasso is also highly active in the field of music theatre. His recent productions include Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes (2025) as well as Bohuslav Martinů's Zweimal Alexander and Messertränen. In addition, he has conducted operetta and music theatre works such as Im weißen Rössl, Gräfin Mariza, Der Zigeunerbaron, and Die Herzogin von Chicago.
From 2022 to 2024, he served as assistant to Michael Francis with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Further important assistantships led him to work with François-Xavier Roth at the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne (2022 – Momentum: Our Future, Now) and with Kent Nagano in Hamburg.
He has attracted international attention through his success in major conducting competitions, reaching the semifinal of the German Conducting Award 2025, the round of sixteen at the Malko Competition for Young Conductors 2024, and the semifinal of the IX Jorma Panula International Conducting Competition 2024. From 2021 to 2023, he was a scholarship holder of the Forum Dirigieren program of the German Music Council.
Francesco Cagnasso has attended masterclasses with Daniele Gatti, Michael Sanderling, Tomáš Netopil, Michael Francis, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolás Pasquet, and Ole Kristian Ruud. He completed his Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting in 2024 at the Zurich University of the Arts, studying with Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller, following earlier studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre with Ulrich Windfuhr.
Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Schumann: Manfred / Honegger: Pastorale d'été / Keller: Signale (World Premiere) / Schoeck Violin Concerto), Philharmonie Freiberg (Haydn: Symphony No. 95 / Britten: "A Time There Was" / Webern Langsamer Satz / Hindemith Symphony "Mathis der Maler") and Youth Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz with Mahler Symphony No. 2.
