Podcast - Ryan Giannitelli
David Fogel and Fiona Gehrke Interview Ryan Giannitelli
Ryan Giannitelli is a musician committed to the idea that the purpose of music is to create connection with all those who experience it. As Robert L. Poster Conducting fellow at the Grammy Award winning New York Youth Symphony, he performs several works in tandem with the Composition Program. In these premieres, he aims to capture, in greatest detail, the ideas of the young musicians he works with. In addition to his 5+ years at the organization, Ryan has worked as the conductor of Carnegie Hall's biannual "Night of Inspiration" where he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut at 19 years old. He also served as conductor of the annual tour of the Long Island Youth Orchestra, where he brought the orchestra to the islands of the South Pacific, including conducting the first live orchestra in Samoa in over 20 years. This year, Ryan returns, for the second year, as an academy conductor of the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra for the Printemps Musical Alizés, held annually in Essaouira, Morocco. He has served as assistant conductor for the New York University orchestra on several occasions, where he is also a 3rd year student completely a dual degree in Viola Performance and Linguistics, while maintaining his goal to pursue orchestral conducting professionally. As a violist, he received a special distinction from the École Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot, while studying under Pierre Lenert, viola solo of the Paris Opera. He is currently studying with Andrew J. Kim, musical director of the New York Youth Symphony, and the virtuoso violist Jordan Bak. Ryan was the final student of violist Karen Ritscher, who passed away in July 2025.
Please enjoy this long-format conversation between David Fogel (CEO, The Symphonina Foundation) and Fiona Gehrke (Symphonina Foundation Ambassador) with Ryan.