9.00pm, Saturday 31 July 2010, Teatro Signorelli: Opera Gala
Performing with Ekaterina Scherbachenko (soprano) and Marcello Giordani (tenor) with Orchestra della Toscana

Gisèle Ben-Dor has conducted some the world’s greatest orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, New World Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.  In 2009, highlights included    engagements with The Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic and Mississippi Symphony.

Uruguayan by birth, Ms. Ben-Dor is a champion of Latin American music - notably the works of Ginastera, Revueltas, Piazzolla, and Luis Bacalov.  Her major performances of the music of Ginastera, included a new production and European premiere of his last opera, "Beatrix Cenci" at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, as well as Turbae ad Passionem Gregorianam in Madrid, also a European premiere.  She has recorded Ginastera’s vocal music for EMI Classics with the Santa Barbara Symphony, featuring Placido Domingo, Ana Maria Martinez and Virginia Tola.  She  has also  made numerous recordings with Naxos for new recordings of  the  music of Ginastera with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Maestra Ben-Dor is currently Conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony as well as Conductor Emerita of the Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra.  A winner of the Bártok Prize of Hungarian Television, Ms. Ben-Dor has toured extensively in Eastern Europe . Born and raised in Uruguay of Polish parents, she studied at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel-Aviv and the Yale School of Music.  She resides in the US with her husband and two sons.