filippo
ciabatti

Principal Guest Conductor

Beginning in June 2026, Filippo Ciabatti joins Boston Baroque’s artistic team in the newly created role of Principal Guest Conductor. From 2023 - 2025, Ciabatti served as Boston Baroque’s Assistant Conductor, assisting Martin Pearlman on all performances during that time.

Praised for his “sensitive and nuanced” musicianship and for delivering performances “with admirable sweep and tension,” Filippo Ciabatti is a dynamic and versatile conductor with a multifaceted career.

A native of Florence, Italy, Mr. Ciabatti has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras across Europe and the Americas, including the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra (TX), Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra (GA), Park ICM Orchestra (MO), Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME), San Angelo Symphony Orchestra (TX), Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Festival Orchestra (Sweden), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Central (Colombia), and members of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Italy). In summer 2024, he was awarded the Joel Revzen Conducting Prize and engaged to conduct the Festival Orchestra Napa (CA). Next season, he will perform as a Music Director finalist with Symphony New Hampshire and the Plano Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Ciabatti has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Gabriel Cabezas, Ray Chen, Nathan Gunn, David Kim, Tommy Mesa, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Time for Three. An advocate for contemporary music, he commissioned a cello concerto by Noah Luna, which aired on NPR’s From the Top. He also promotes cross-genre collaborations, having premiered a secular oratorio by jazz composer Taylor Ho Bynum and hosted MacArthur Fellow Tomeka Reid for a performance of her cello concerto.

Mr. Ciabatti is the founding Artistic Director of Upper Valley Baroque, a professional orchestral and choral ensemble, which after its first five seasons has already received critical acclaim and regularly performs to sold-out houses. In 2025, he was the first-ever guest conductor to perform Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque, leading “a lithe and vital Messiah that felt rich, personal, and gloriously lived in” (The Arts Fuse). Next season, he’ll become the first Principal Guest Conductor in the ensemble’s history.

Equally at home in opera, Ciabatti is the Music Director of the Opera Company of Middlebury, where he made his debut with a production of Fidelio in June 2023. He has also conducted productions with Opera North (NH) and the Lyric Theatre at Illinois, including Tosca, Madama Butterfly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Don Giovanni (starring and directed by Nathan Gunn).

As Director of Orchestral and Choral Programs at the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, Mr. Ciabatti has spearheaded innovative, cross-disciplinary projects, collaborating with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Associazione Figli d’Arte Cuticchio, an award-winning Sicilian puppet company. In 2025, he led the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra on tour in Italy, performing Mahler’s First Symphony in major venues in collaboration with the Orchestra Toscana dei Conservatori.

Ciabatti is also an accomplished coach and collaborate pianist. He was on the faculty of Opera Viva! (Verona, Italy) for several seasons, and he joined the Seagle Festival (NY) faculty last summer. He has played for masterclasses with Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard, and William Matteuzzi,and has served as a vocal coach at institutions such as the Cherubini Conservatory, Florence Opera Academy, and Maggio Musicale Formazione.

Mr. Ciabatti holds advanced degrees in piano, choral conducting, and orchestral conducting from both Italy and the United States. In 2018, he was a Conducting Fellow at the Aurora Music Festival (Sweden) under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. He won The American Prize in Conducting (college/university division) in 2021. He resides in Vermont with his wife Francesca, their toddler Gianluca, and their cat Sofia.

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Katie DeBonville

Chief Development Officer and Campaign Manager

Katie is an accomplished fundraiser with a diversity of experience in arts organizations in Boston. She joined Boston Baroque as the organization’s first Chief Development Officer in the fall of 2017. Prior to that, Katie spent a decade as a member of New England Conservatory’s Institutional Advancement team, first as Director of Annual Giving and then as Senior Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving before moving into a Leadership Gifts Officer role. Since arriving at Boston Baroque, Katie has worked steadily to increase the organization’s annual contributed income. In the 2018-2019 season, Boston Baroque crossed the $1 million threshold in fundraising for the first time in its history—a milestone which Katie and the team at Boston Baroque look forward to repeating!

In addition to NEC, Katie has held fundraising positions at the Huntington Theatre Company, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She is active in Women in Development of Greater Boston and has served on the alumni boards of Bucknell University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in flute performance and Spanish in 1995, and New England Conservatory, where she earned her Master’s degree in musicology in 1997. In her spare time, Katie is an avid reader, knitter, and concert-goer.

SHELBY LEVINE

Marketing & Audience Services Manager

Shelby joined Boston Baroque as Marketing and Audience Development Manager in 2025, bringing a strong background in arts engagement and community outreach. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Studies from Elon University and earned her Master’s in Arts Administration from Boston University.

Before Boston Baroque, Shelby served as Program and Outreach Manager at Boston City Singers, where she led initiatives to grow community partnerships and support youth development through music.

Shelby is a dedicated advocate for live performance and audience connection. When not managing ticketing systems or crafting marketing campaigns, she can be found reading a good book, stress baking, or attempting numerous craft projects.

Dan Ludden

Chief Artistic Administration & Operations Officer

Dan Ludden, Chief Artistic Administration & Operations Officer, joined Boston Baroque in 2016. His responsibilities include managing Boston Baroque's daily finances, production logistics, and office administration. He also supports the Executive Director as needed, and serves as an artistic consultant for vocal soloists.

From a boy soprano through degrees in Musicology and Operatic Voice from Bates College and Indiana University and onto the Board of Directors at Opera Boston, Dan has a lifetime of love and involvement in the musical arts. He is excited to help bring Boston Baroque into and long past its 50th Anniversary!

Nic Laschever

Director of Marketing & Audience Development

Nic Laschever joined Boston Baroque in the fall of 2024 and serves as Director of Marketing & Audience Development. In this role, they oversee the organization’s marketing strategy, brand development, digital communications, and audience engagement initiatives.

A freelance graphic designer and marketing consultant since 2017, Nic brings together experience in visual art, theatrical design, and integrated marketing to create bold, research-driven campaigns. They have designed for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, White Snake Projects, Chicago Fringe Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, and other arts organizations. Previously, Nic served as Marketing Manager for Boston Opera Collaborative, where they strengthened the company’s brand and digital presence. Their broader experience spans graphic design, content strategy, and community engagement for arts nonprofits and consumer brands.

Nic holds a Master’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Integrated Marketing Communication from Suffolk University, a BFA in Art and Technical Theatre from Smith College, and a degree in Graphic Design from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. With roots in scenic design and sculpture, Nic approaches each campaign as visual storytelling, using composition, typography, and research to guide the audience experience.

Nic lives in Chicago with their wife, mezzo-soprano Alexis Peart, their cat Monteverdi, and their dog Poppea. Outside of the arts, Nic is an advanced rock-climbing instructor and enjoys scuba diving. A devoted Handel fan, their favorite Baroque aria is “Crude furie degli orridi abissi” from Xerxes, and their favorite Baroque work is Alcina or Elijah.

Christina Day Martinson

Concertmaster

Christina Day Martinson serves as Concertmaster for Boston Baroque. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, GRAMMY® nominated violinist Christina Day Martinson serves as Concertmaster and Associate Artistic Director for Boston Baroque and is Associate Concertmaster for The Handel + Haydn Society. She has been a featured soloist with Boston Baroque, the Handel + Haydn Society, Joshua Rifkin's Bach Ensemble, Tempesta di Mare, Ars Lyrica Houston, the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra in Brazil and the Philharmonisch Orkest Mozart in Amsterdam. 

In 2018, Martinson was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for her tour-de-force performance of the complete cycle of Heinrich Biber’s The Mystery Sonatas, with Boston Baroque.

Martinson has performed as Concertmaster under conductors such as Roger Norrington, Richard Egarr, Bernard Labadie, Raphaël Pichon, Nicholas McGegan, Laurence Cummings, Harry Christophers and Martin Pearlman, among others. Martinson's performances of the complete Mystery Sonatas in 2012-13 were hailed by The Boston Globe as a Top 10 Performance of the Year in 2012 and chosen by Jeremy Eichler for his Top Concerts of 2013. 

A recipient of the NAF- Fulbright Grant and Frank Huntington Beebe Award, Martinson holds degrees from New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, the Royal Conservatory in The Netherlands, and received her Master of Music in Historical Performance from Boston University. She has given chamber music recitals in Jordan Hall, Boston, Ishihara Hall, Japan, the Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensberg, the Thüringen Bachwochen in Germany, the Casals Festival, Puerto Rico, and at the Leuven Festival in Belgium. 

In 2009, Martinson recorded Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Boston Baroque for Telarc Records. 

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SARAH RADCLIFFE-MARRS

Executive Director

Sarah Radcliffe-Marrs is an arts leader with over fifteen years of experience in concert, festival, and event planning and execution, as an employee of prominent arts organizations in Boston and England.

Originally from the UK, Sarah grew up surrounded by music, and later earned undergraduate and master's degrees in music and musicology from the University of Oxford. She went on to work for the Royal College of Music, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Proms & Radio 3 before moving to the US in 2012. In Boston, she held roles in the Artistic and Concert Operations departments at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and at the Celebrity Series of Boston. 

Most recently, Sarah served as Executive Director of Gramophone Award-winning vocal ensemble, Blue Heron, and will continue her association with the group as a member of the Board of Directors. Sarah also serves as Co-Chair of the Cultural Council in Malden, where she lives with her husband, two young sons, and a pup named Misha.