Eugene Kohn came to the attention of Luciano Pavarotti in 1972, when he was accompanying the appearances of both Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi. The young pianist was engaged for the legendary tenor’s debut recital tour in the USA, and the two continued appearing in recital world wide through the mid 1970’s, when Kohn began to move his career from piano accompanist to full time conductor.  

Following his 1980 Metropolitan Opera debut in “La Gioconda”, Kohn began appearing in Berlin, Vienna, Roma, and other major theatres worldwide.  He served as principal guest conductor of the Bonn Opera from 1992-97, and then was  Music Director of the Puerto Rico symphony from 1994-2001.  During all these years Luciano Pavarotti remained an important figure in Kohn’s development, as the two kept in close touch on a personal as well as a musical level.