Bio

Italian conductor Stefano Nigro has begun his music education at the age of 7. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in piano with highest honors in 2013 at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatoire of Como. Alongside the piano studies, Stefano has undertaken his conducting studies with Damian Iorio and continued his training with a Master at the “Zürcher Hochschule der Künste” in Zurich under the guidance of Christof Brunner (2016-2017).

In September 2014, Stefano won the prize for the best student of the “Florence Conducting Masterclass” debuting as conductor at the age of 23 with the “Florentine Chamber Orchestra” in Florence. In 2015 he conducted the same orchestra accompanying the Italian trumpet virtuoso Gabriele Cassone, and in the same year, he made his debut in the season of “Toscana Classica”.

In 2014, Stefano worked as assistant of Damian Iorio for a production of the “Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana” at the RSI Auditorium in Lugano. In the same year, he served as assistant of Giuseppe Lanzetta in Florence for a production of the “Florentine Chamber Orchestra” together with Andreas Blau, first flute of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In November 2015, he attended as assistant to Christopher Franklin a production of Massenet’s Werther at the “Giuseppe Verdi Theatre” in Trieste. In March 2016, Stefano worked a second time as Damian Iorio’s assistant at the “State Opera and Ballet Theatre” in Krasnoyarsk (RU) for the staging of “Madama Butterfly”.

In May 2017, he was selected among 450 young conductors from all over the world as one of the 20 finalists of the prestigious “55th International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors”. In the Autumn of 2018 Stefano founded “Orchestra Settembre Classico” which made his debut under his conducting in November 2018 and in February 2019 at “Sala Bianca” of “Teatro Sociale” (Como) in the concerts “Chopin in Concerto” and “Vienna al Sociale”. During the performance “Chopin in concerto”, Stefano presented his original transcription for string orchestra of Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra. In September 2019, he conducted a Gala concert at “Teatro Belloni” in Barlassina where he performed famous arias and well-known overtures of opera repertoire in a music arrangement he prepared for sinfonietta. In November 2019, Stefano was back in Como at “Sala Bianca” together with “Orchestra Settembre Classico” in the concert “Alla corte di Haydn”, entirely dedicated to the Austrian composer.

In December 2019, Stefano conducted an Opera Gala of arias from the Belcantist and French repertoire he had transcribed for string orchestra. Thanks to the success achieved, he was invited by the Opera Association “Giuditta Pasta” in Saronno to conduct the Opera Gala for the season 2020-2021.

Stefano continued his collaboration with “Orchestra Settembre Classico” presenting in September 2020 – together with the pianist Noemi Serrano – two programmes, the first titled “Il mio primo Mozart” about Mozart Piano Concertos, and then, in October 2020, the second one, “Mozart a Salisburgo”, at the Central Pavillon of Villa Erba in Cernobbio (Como), and achieved a great success of public and critics. He was back on the podium after lockdown in May 2021, with a string orchestra programme in Villa Lario (Como). In June on the same year he performed “Buon Compleanno Beethoven”, a concert celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday (the programme included Coriolano Ouverture, 4th Piano Concerto and 7th Symphony).

In the following season his collaboration with “Orchestra Settembre Classico” went on proposing a wide repertoire range from Classicism to Baroque. In October 2021 Stefano presented the concert “Buon Compleanno Beethoven” in Saronno at “Teatro Giuditta Pasta”; after the success of this concert he was invited to conduct in June 2022 “Concerto per la Festa della Repubblica Italiana” (the programme included a duet from Bellini “I puritani”, Mozart Piano Concerto K. 453 and Symphony K. 550). In December 2022 he conducted a selection of scene from Puccini “La Bohème” and arias from Verdi, Bellini and Gounod, partnering with soprano Eva Corbetta and tenor Kazuki Yoshida.

In May 2023 he has been part of the jury of the “Saronno International Lyric Competition Giuditta Pasta”; in June on the same year Stefano conducted once again “Concerto per la Festa della Repubblica Italiana” with Vivaldi well-known arias for mezzosoprano, ouvertures and concerts for flute, archi and continuo. In July 2023 he made his debut at “Festival Ticino Musica” with the opera “Il matrimonio segreto” by Domenico Cimarosa, performed in Lugano “LAC” and in different towns of Canton Ticino. In November 2023 Stefano gave a concert at Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan) and presents six original compositions written by himself for mezzosoprano and orchestra, based on Luis Garcia Montero’s poems. In December on the same year he conducted “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti in the valuable “Small Court Theatre” included in the “Royal Villa” in Monza.

In 2024 Stefano will conduct “Carmen” by G. Bizet which will be performed in Kumamoto (Japan) organized by Kumamoto City Opera Association; he has been invited again by “Festival Ticino Musica” for the new lyric opera production, “Rita” by Gaetano Donizetti.    

Since September 2020, Stefano has been leading some important educational projects in Como. Together with pianist Noemi Serrano and journalist Stefano Lamon, he held meetings at Ronco dell’Abate Library in Como to engage the concert audience, sharing ideas and thoughts on the repertoire that would be performed. In Spring 2021 he recorded “Un mese con Beethoven”, an online video blog to discover more about the great composer. In June 2021 he gave a lesson – concert for kids in Villa del Grumello (Como) about Mozart “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” which has been replied in November 2022.

Over the years Stefano participated in Masterclasses led by internationally renowned conductors: Giuseppe Lanzetta (“Florence Conducting Masterclass”, Florence 2014), Colin Metters (“International Masterclass for Orchestral Conductors”, Vilnius 2015 and, again in 2015, “Colin Metters International Masterclass” at the “Yehudi Menuhin School”, London), Sian Edwards (“Advanced Conducting Course”, St Andrews 2016), Johannes Schlaefli (“Allegra International Summer Academy Orchestral Conducting Masterclass”, Ruse 2016) and Matteo Beltrami (“Conducting Specialization in Operatic Repertoire”, Novara 2018-2019).

Stefano conducted “Johannes Palashko Chamber Orchestra of Palma de Mallorca”, “Florentine Chamber Orchestra”, “Orchestra Toscana Classica”, “Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra”, “Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra”, “Sofia Academy Symphony Orchestra”, “Arte Solidale Festival Orchestra” and “Orchestra Settembre Classico”.