Simona Grossi grew up in a small village in the South of Italy (Calabria), in a family of artists and scientists who loved to argue, but also sing and play. After her degree in piano performance from the Conservatory of Frosinone, Italy, she decided to start studying orchestral conducting. "It was after seeing Mirga Gražinytè-Tyla at the LA Phil that I realized conducting was my calling, that I needed to conduct. Being in the orchestra with my musicians and conducting make me feel whole. Only when conducting I feel I can properly voice my feelings. Berlioz said that 'love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love.' I couldn't agree more. And conducting makes me feel at peace, as it's only then that I get a realistic sense of the existence of something that transcends us, which can make sense of the nonsense that surrounds us. Anything else disappears and I'm just so happy."


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Photo Credit: ​ Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging