Matteo Dal Maso announced as winner of 18th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition

28-year-old Italian conductor awarded £15,000 prize by Donatella Flick and becomes Assistant Conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra

Wednesday 29 April 2026

Italian conductor Matteo Dal Maso was today [29 April 2026] announced as the winner of the 18th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition, internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading conducting Competitions. 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 London Symphony Orchestra.

Dal Maso was joined in the Final by 29-year-old French conductor Félix Benati and 22-year-old Leonhard Kreutzmann from Germany, who had been chosen from the ten conductors who made it through to the Second Round. After a thrilling Final at LSO St Luke’s featuring music by Verdi, Brahms and Rimsky-Korsakov, Dal Maso was chosen as the victor by an esteemed jury, chaired by Sir Antonio Pappano and including conductors Sian Edwards and Thomas Søndergård, composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan, and LSO musicians Rachel Gough and Sarah Quinn.

For the first time, the Competition was followed by Sky Arts for a new major documentary series Making a Maestro – with the results of the Competition revealed in the latest episode. The episode also saw His Majesty King Charles III – who has supported the Competition since it started 35 years ago - visit the finalists during rehearsals at LSO St Luke’s ahead of the final concert.

The final episode of the series will be broadcast at 8pm on Wednesday 6 May on Sky Arts, where viewers will be able to watch the entirety of Dal Maso’s winning concert with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Matteo Dal Maso said: “Winning the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition feels like a dream come true. 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!”

Donatella Flick, founder of the Competition, said: “I’m thrilled to announce Matteo as the winner of the 2025 Competition, and wish him all the best for what I’m sure will be an illustrious career ahead of him. It was a wonderful few days of music making at LSO St Luke’s with all our competitors, and I hope audiences have enjoyed seeing how talented these young conductors are in Making a Maestro.”

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. I also want to pass on my congratulations and best wishes to all the competitors, who impressed us immensely over the course of the Competition – the future of conducting looks very bright!”

In addition to the cash prize and opportunity to become LSO Assistant Conductor, Dal Maso will also work with the LSO’s Principal and guest conductors on the preparation of concerts, often on the assessment of new scores; take part in the LSO’s education and outreach programme LSO Discovery; accompany the orchestra on tour and, should the opportunity arise, conduct the LSO in concert.

Established in 1990 by Donatella Flick, the biennial competition bridges the gap between conservatoire training and professional careers for young conductors. For over 30 years it has launched the careers of many esteemed winners, including Elim Chan (2014), who conducted the Last Night of the BBC Proms 2025, Clemens Schuldt (2010), Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Quebec, and David Afkham (2008), Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Orquestra y Coro Nacionales de Espana.

The final episode of Making a Maestro airs at 8pm on Wednesday 6 May on Sky Arts and Freeview and streaming service NOW. More information on the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition can be found on the Competition website.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact Premier PR:

Yasmin Hoy: yasmin.hoy@premiercomms.com | +44(0)7814 068008

Victoria Bevan: victoria.bevan@premiercomms.com | +44(0)7917 764318

Notes to Editors

Please find a selection of images from the Final of the 18th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition here.

About the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition 


In 1990, Donatella Flick founded her Conducting Competition to offer much-needed support to young conductors at the start of their careers. She remains at the helm of the Competition working with a small team and in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra to present the Competition every two years. 

Donatella Flick became aware of the challenges faced by young conductors bridging the gap between conservatoire training and a professional career, the point at which many talented conductors falter or even abandon their conducting ambitions completely, and in 1990 she founded the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition to help address the issue.  

Over thirty years later, and around 300 young conductors have taken part in 17 biennial Competitions in London and there have been 18 winners (in 2000, two conductors took the prize jointly).  

In 1996 a partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra began which has continued to grow ever since. The Finalists are lucky enough to conduct the LSO during all three days of the Competition, and the Orchestra has a collective vote as part of the judging panel. 

Many of the Competition’s winners have developed excellent careers. In 2014, Elim Chan became the first woman to win the Competition and her star has been rising sharply ever since. She was appointed to the Dudamel Fellowship programme with the LA Philharmonic in 2016/17 and in 2018 she became Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 2019 saw her BBC Proms debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and she was appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from the 2019/20 season.  

Donatella Flick has always worked hard to ensure that the Competition benefits everyone who takes part, and not only the winners. She achieves this through carefully considered repertoire for each round, and by inviting conductors and musicians of the highest calibre to be on the jury, giving their time for free and bringing with them a wealth of experience and wisdom. 

In 2018 the Competition Final was streamed live for the first time, allowing a worldwide audience on Medici TV to experience the Competition at home. 

In 2018 and 2021, Il sogno del podio, a major award-winning documentary about the Competition by was produced by RAI TV, Italy’s national broadcaster. 

About the London Symphony Orchestra 


The London Symphony Orchestra believes that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere – from orchestral fans in the concert hall to first-time listeners all over the world.

The LSO was established in 1904 as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Since then, generations of remarkable talents have built the LSO’s reputation for quality, ambition and a commitment to sharing the joy of music with everyone.

The LSO performs some 70 concerts every year as Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, with its family of artists: Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas.

The LSO has major artistic residencies in Paris, Tokyo and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and a growing presence across Australasia.

Through LSO Discovery, the LSO’s learning and community programme, 60,000 people each year experience the transformative power of music. The Orchestra’s musicians are at the heart of this unique programme, leading workshops, mentoring bright young talent, and visiting schools, hospitals and community spaces. The home of much of this work is LSO St Luke’s, the LSO’s venue on Old Street. In 2025, following a programme of works, the LSO will open up the venue’s facilities to more people than ever before, with new state-of-the-art recording facilities and dedicated spaces for LSO Discovery.

The LSO’s record label LSO Live is a leader among orchestra-owned labels, bringing to life the excitement of a live performance in a catalogue of over 200 acclaimed recordings, and reaching millions through streaming services and online broadcasts. The LSO has been prolific in the studio since the infancy of orchestral recording, and has made more recordings than any other orchestra – over 2,500 projects to date – across film, video games and bespoke audio collaborations. Through inspiring music, learning programmes and digital innovations, the LSO’s reach extends far beyond the concert hall.

Matteo Dal Maso 


Matteo Dal Maso is an Italian symphonic and operatic conductor. He is the First Prize winner of the 5th Athens International Conducting Competition, Second Prize and Audience Prize winner of the 3rd Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège International Conducting Competition, Second Prize winner of the “Ionel Perlea” International Conducting Competition, and Audience Prize winner of the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto International Conducting Competition “Peter Maag.”

He has established an international reputation conducting leading professional ensembles, including the BBC Philharmonic, Opera Australia Orchestra, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège Orchestra, ERT Greek Radio National Orchestra, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Romanian Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Winds, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, and Beogradski Simfoničari. In July 2025, he made his acclaimed debut at the Sydney Opera House with Sir David McVicar’s celebrated production of Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Australia. At the beginning of 2026, he debuted at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, conducting Grétry’s Richard Coeur de Lion, and at the Teatro Del Monaco in Treviso with Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.

Matteo has also worked extensively as an assistant conductor with major orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Opera North, collaborating with conductors such as Andrea Battistoni, Giampaolo Bisanti, Domingo Hindoyan, John Storgårds, Sir Andrew Davis, and Antony Hermus.

He has participated in numerous prestigious conducting masterclasses with Jorma Panula, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolas Pasquet, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Cristian Măcelaru, Daniel Oren, Sir Mark Elder, Colin Metters, and Michalis Economou.

His artistic development and dedication have been supported by the Fondazione Cecilia Gilardi, which supported him during his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he earned a Master’s degree in Conducting with Distinction.