Patrick Botti

Born in Marseille, France, Patrick Botti studied conducting, piano, solfège, harmony, and voice at the Marseille National Conservatory, the Académie Régionale de piano in Marseille, the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, and the Paris National Conservatory.

The recipient of a Fulbright Grant and an Annette  Kade Fellowship, he came to the United States in 1982 to study conducting, composition and musicology at the New England Conservatory in Boston. In 1983, he received an affiliate grant to study conducting at Boston University.

He holds degrees from the Marseille and Paris National Conservatories and from the Sorbonne University and was the winner of numerous awards and scholarships. He completed post graduate studies in Musicological Research at both the Sorbonne University and the Paris Conservatory and in conducting at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.

His conducting teachers have included Jeno Rehak, Franco Ferrara and Pierre Dervaux in Europe and Benjamin Zander, Richard Pittman, Thomas Dunn and Kenneth Kiesler in the United States.

Patrick started to conduct at the age of sixteen, but discovered his conducting vocation at the age of thirteen, while vacationing in a convent where his aunt was superior. In an interview for PBS,ee recalls that first moment, when picking up a plant stake (the kind used to help plants grow straight) he felt the urge to inscribe patterns in the air while classical music was playing on a stereo system. Natural patterns started indeed to emerge from his hands and he could shape the music.  He knew then that he would become a conductor.

Patrick began his conducting career as Music Director of the Echo du Futur Symphony Orchestra in Marseille then went on to found and direct the highly acclaimed Concilium Musicum de Paris, for which he still remains Artistic Advisor.

In 1984, he created the Jamaica Plain Symphony-French Symphony of Boston, and was the principal conductor of the French Orchestral Ensemble of Boston.

Maestro Botti was subsequently invited in 1988 by the French Ministry of Culture to work on the restructuring of French orchestras using American models. While in France, Patrick worked with professional orchestras, especially the ensemble Mouvement 12, a professional orchestra in Toulouse, France.

Patrick has guest conducted numerous orchestras worldwide including the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, the BBC and Royal College of Music Orchestra in London, the Luxembourg Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra in Canada, the Boston Philharmonic, the New England Conservatory Orchestras, the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, the French  Radio Television Nancy-Lorraine Orchestra and the Colorado Springs Symphony to name a few.

His interpretations of both French and American music are acclaimed worldwide, and he has been heard on National Public Radio, the CBC Network (Canada), the BBC (London), and on French National Radio.

Patrick was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra (presently Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra )from 1992 to 2003 and Artistic Director of the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 2000. He also served as Music Director for the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra from May to December 2007.

Patrick is also an accomplished pianist, who has performed extensively in Europe as a soloist or as a member of the famed Trio Poulenc, having been a fellow at the Marguerite Long Piano Academy and piano faculty at the Piano Regional Academy in Marseille, and regional conservatories in France.

Patrick holds a dual American and French citizenship and lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.