Pagliacci marks American maestro Steven Mercurio’s seventeenth production with MOT, after last conducting Rigoletto in 2011. He has conducted more than forty different operas in six languages in many of the world’s leading opera houses, and for five years was Music Director of the Spoleto Festival and Principal Conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. In addition to Maestro Mercurio’s operatic repertoire, his symphonic appearances have spanned the world, and he is an acclaimed and sought-after arranger and orchestrator, creating arrangements for a wide array of artists including Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo and Sting.