Richard Pontzious
Artistic Director & Conductor

The idea for the creation of an orchestra that would unite the region and celebrate the talents of Asia's brightest young musicians came as the result of Mr. Pontzious' work as conductor, teacher and writer in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, where he has lived and worked for some 30 years.

The first overseas musician to be invited to live for an extended time in China after the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Pontzious served as conductor-in-residence at the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music in the early1980s, toured with the Conservatory orchestra and conducted the orchestras of Nanjing, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Harbin, where he is credited with laying the foundation for a revival of Harbin's Summer Arts Festival. Following concerts in Korea with the Seoul Philharmonic he was honored with an invitation to conduct an all-American music program with the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra for then President of the United States Ronald Reagan. He recently returned to the Conservatory to conduct a program that included the Chinese premiere of Martinu's Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra with San Francisco Symphony associate principal violist Liu Yun-Jie.  

Since 1987, Mr. Pontzious has devoted his professional life to the Asian Youth Orchestra. This has led to extraordinary collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin, Sergiu Comissiona, Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer, Elly Ameling, Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Young Uck Kim, Stefan Jackiw and Alicia de Larrocha. Critics have called AYO "astonishing" and the "finest among youth orchestras around the world."

AYO's tours throughout Asia and around the world have led to conducting appearances in Beijing, Berlin, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Osaka, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Sydney, Manila, Hong Kong, as well as in Romania and Italy. At the urging of Sergiu Comissiona, the New York native was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra in 2002.

A student of American composer Lou Harrison and conductors Sergiu Comissiona, Ferdinand Leitner and Josef Krips, Mr. Pontzious received the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong Government in 2000 for his contribution to music and the arts. That same year, at age 56, he received his private pilot's license.