Philip Nuzzo

Philip Nuzzo’s career as a conductor has been enriched and informed by more than two decades of international orchestral engagements, operatic world premieres, and innovation within and beyond Brooklyn’s classical music scene. Having founded the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra 21 years ago (when classical music had been missing from the borough for more than a decade), Maestro Nuzzo has now grown the BCO into a community pillar that currently serves as Brooklyn’s only resident orchestra. 

Over the last two decades, Maestro Nuzzo has earned the reputation of being a people’s musician, combining his blue-collar work ethic with a deep musical knowledge and even greater passion. Being born and raised in Brooklyn, his passion for outreach and programming diverse community concerts has driven the BCO to the forefront of the musical scene, a testament to the impact that the BCO has had on the city of Brooklyn. 

Maestro Nuzzo’s career has taken him from the Great Wall of China to the Great Pyramids and beyond, holding positions such as Music Director of the Mississippi Opera and Principal Guest conductor of the Cairo Symphony. Most recently, he led the Orchestra Filarmonica Campana in Naples, Italy as a Guest Conductor.

Known for bringing diverse and contemporary programming to Brooklyn, Maestro Nuzzo and the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra had the privilege of performing the American debut of the opera “All Quiet on the Western Front” in 2014. The Orchestra has also performed contemporary works of note such as The Book of the Hanging Gardens by Schoenberg, Berg’s Violin Concerto, and have received critical acclaim for their interpretations of Dmitri Shostakovich. Equally at home in the operatic world as in the orchestral world, Mo. Nuzzo and the BCO have presented semi-staged performances of Puccini’s Turandot and Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue.

Maestro Nuzzo and the BCO’s recording of the “Oneness” violin concerto (Deon Price) was released on Cambria Records, and was hailed by the Grammy nominating committee for both the work and performance.

Other International performances of note have included: Conducting concerts with Avellino’s Zenith 2000 Ensemble, Venice Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Filharmonia Campana, Tuscany’s Scarlatti Orchestra, and the Orchestra P.I. Tchaikovsky, which opened the 16th annual Irno Festival and the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria as part of the European Capital of Music 2019. On the anniversary of Mahler’s birth in 2014, Maestro Nuzzo led a celebrated performance of the Mahler Fourth Symphony with the Kunstler Ensemble in Vienna. 

In this 21st season with the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra and beyond, Maestro Nuzzo hopes to keep providing Brooklyn with accessible, dynamic, and diverse concerts to continue to enrich the community with classical music and art for all.