Italian conductor Valentina Peleggi studied in Rome and Siena, and later at the Royal Academy in London, winning the top prizes at each institution.
She then became Resident Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop and Principal Conductor of their professional chorus, also Guest Artistic Director of the Theatro Sao Pedro, responsible for Italian opera.
In 2019 she joined English National Opera for 2 seasons as a Mackerras Fellow, conducting Carmen, Boheme, Orpheus in the Underworld and Dido and Aeneas.
She won the APCA Prize in 2016 as Conductor of the Year from the Sao Paulo Society of Critics of the Arts and was voted ‘Young Talent of 2017’ by readers of Brazil’s specialist music magazine Revista Concerto.