Claudio Abbado (1933 – 2014) was an Italian conductor. One of the most celebrated and respected conductors of the 20th century, particularly in the music of Gustav Mahler, he served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. Abbado’s childhood encompassed the Nazi occupation of Milan. Conductors who influenced as a child were Arturo Toscanini, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Victor de Sabata and Rafael Kubelík. At age 15, he met Leonard Bernstein, who commented, "You have the eye to be a conductor’’. Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Milan Conservatory and graduated with a degree in piano in 1955. The following year, he studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1958, Abbado won the international Serge Koussevitzky Competition for conductors. In 1963, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize for conductors. He was a recipient of both the Philharmonic Ring and the Golden Nicolai Medal from the Vienna Philharmonic. Abbado founded a number of new orchestras with younger musicians at their core. These included the European Community Youth Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra