Washington  - Italian star maestro Riccardo Muti, 66, was named Monday as the new conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Muti will begin his tenure in Chicago with a five-year contract beginning the 2010­11 season. Muti was appointed by a unanimous vote of the symphony board to be its 10th music director, along with "overwhelming support from the musicians," orchestra spokeswoman Raechel Alexander said.

"We are bubbling over with excitement."

Muti will conduct a minimum of 10 weeks each season, in addition to domestic and international tours. A celebration of the appointment with Muti and the orchestra is scheduled for June 2.

Beginning in January 2009, Muti is expected to oversee auditions and planning for future seasons. He will also lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the Verdi Requiem at Symphony Centre in January 2009, and two subscription weeks in the 2009­10 season.

Muti said that he felt a strong connection with the orchestra's musicians.

"I am very happy to be joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as their music director," he said. "Sometimes when you least expect it, the timing and the situation unite."

Muti made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in July 1973 at the Ravinia Festival. In September 2007, the world-renowned Muti returned for performances in Chicago.

In addition to working on the creation of the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra in Italy, Muti has performed with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the London Philharmonia and the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Muti, who is currently in Salzburg, Austria, in rehearsals for a spring festival there, was music director at the Scala in Milan for 20 years. He left there in 2005 after a bitter battle between musicians and administrators.

In 2000, Muti declined an offer to direct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was in discussions to be the successor to Lorin Maazel, whose contract runs out in 2009. (dpa)