Sir Antonio "Tony" Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English conductor and pianist and music director of the Royal Opera House since 2002. In 2015 he received a Gold Medal from the Royal Philharmonic Society. 　　Pappano was born in Epping, Essex. Pappano's family had relocated to England from Castelfranco in Miscano near Benevento, Italy in 1958, and at the time of his birth his parents worked in the restaurant business. His father, Pasquale Pappano, was by vocation a singing teacher.