Meet Alfred Savia
Recently appointed Artistic Advisor and Principal Guest Conductor of the Indianapolis Opera, Alfred Savia is no stranger to the Indianapolis musical scene.
Savia served as Associate Conductor of the ISO and Artistic Director of Symphony On the Prairie from 1990 to1996. Maestro Savia just celebrated his 31st and final season as Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Under his leadership the Orchestra added a Youth Orchestra program, Philharmonic Chorus, and Eykamp String Quartet. He initiated many new programs including Messiah, Nutcracker, Music Alive residencies, and fully staged opera presentations.
Savia’s American guest conducting appearances include the Orchestras of Saint Louis, Detroit, Phoenix, Columbus, Memphis, San Antonio, Louisville, New Orleans and Naples (FL). Internationally, he has conducted orchestras extensively in Europe (Florence, Belgrade), Central and South America (Santiago, Montevideo, Quito; Toluca, and Jalapa in Mexico), and Asia (Korea Philharmonic). Festival appearances include Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony and the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival. He recorded Russell Peck’s The Thrill of the Orchestra with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and, with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi and the Evansville Philharmonic,
Respighi’s Piano Concerto.
A native of Livingston, New Jersey, Savia graduated from Butler University. Conducting studies at the ASOL Institute of Orchestral Studies and the Tanglewood Music Center led to his first professional appointment as Assistant Conductor of The Omaha Symphony. Subsequently, he served as Resident Conductor of the Florida Philharmonic and New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Orlando Opera.
Savia studied operatic conducting in Milan, Italy with Enrico Pessina, a conductor at La Scala, who himself had been an assistant conductor under Arturo Toscanini, Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini. In 2013 he conducted La Traviata on the island of Giglio in Tuscany as part of Italy’s commemoration of the 200th anniversary Verdi’s birth. In 2017 he led the Indianapolis Opera production of La Traviata, and last season led Indy Opera’s newly revived
Opera in the Park concert at Garvin Park as well as Elixir of Love.
In 2013 Savia was made a Sagamore of the Wabash.
Recently appointed Artistic Advisor and Principal Guest Conductor of the Indianapolis Opera, Alfred Savia is no stranger to the Indianapolis musical scene.
Savia served as Associate Conductor of the ISO and Artistic Director of Symphony On the Prairie from 1990 to1996. Maestro Savia just celebrated his 31st and final season as Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Under his leadership the Orchestra added a Youth Orchestra program, Philharmonic Chorus, and Eykamp String Quartet. He initiated many new programs including Messiah, Nutcracker, Music Alive residencies, and fully staged opera presentations.
Savia’s American guest conducting appearances include the Orchestras of Saint Louis, Detroit, Phoenix, Columbus, Memphis, San Antonio, Louisville, New Orleans and Naples (FL). Internationally, he has conducted orchestras extensively in Europe (Florence, Belgrade), Central and South America (Santiago, Montevideo, Quito; Toluca, and Jalapa in Mexico), and Asia (Korea Philharmonic). Festival appearances include Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony and the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival. He recorded Russell Peck’s The Thrill of the Orchestra with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and, with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi and the Evansville Philharmonic,
Respighi’s Piano Concerto.
A native of Livingston, New Jersey, Savia graduated from Butler University. Conducting studies at the ASOL Institute of Orchestral Studies and the Tanglewood Music Center led to his first professional appointment as Assistant Conductor of The Omaha Symphony. Subsequently, he served as Resident Conductor of the Florida Philharmonic and New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Orlando Opera.
Savia studied operatic conducting in Milan, Italy with Enrico Pessina, a conductor at La Scala, who himself had been an assistant conductor under Arturo Toscanini, Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini. In 2013 he conducted La Traviata on the island of Giglio in Tuscany as part of Italy’s commemoration of the 200th anniversary Verdi’s birth. In 2017 he led the Indianapolis Opera production of La Traviata, and last season led Indy Opera’s newly revived
Opera in the Park concert at Garvin Park as well as Elixir of Love.
In 2013 Savia was made a Sagamore of the Wabash.
