Educated in the rich musical tradition of the Rome’s Conservatory as a conductor, composer and pianist, Emanuele Andrizzi, whose conducting has been praised as “admirable” by the Chicago Tribune and full of “spirit and thoughtfulness” by the San Diego Union Tribune, has become a versatile musician with a vast experience in the symphonic, operatic, choral and ballet repertoires.
As a conductor, he has worked with various symphonic, operatic and ballet companies and conducted, in the last several years, at Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Philharmonic, Orchestra della Città di Ravenna, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Cluj Symphony, Chicago Opera Theater and New Philharmonic, among others. He has also collaborated with important music festivals, including the the Grant Park and Ravinia.
Many international artists have performed as soloists with Andrizzi in concerts and recordings, including Ferruccio Furlanetto, Frederica Von Stade, Maurizio Baglini, Frank Almond, Esteban Batallán, James Pellerite, David Taylor, Wael Farouk, Winston Choi, Adam Neiman, Almita Vamos and Joyce Castle.
As a longtime opera conductor and expert in Italian repertoire, he started working in 2018 with a team of international artists to fill a void within Chicago’s current operatic climate and create the Opera Festival of Chicago. As music director of the Opera Festival of Chicago, he has programmed Italian masterworks that had never before been performed in Chicago and the Midwest, such as Verdi’s Il Corsaro and others, and helped the company to get national ad international attention, thanks to world-class performances, the most recent of which have been nationally and internationally broadcast on some of the major classical music stations in the United States and around the world.
In addition to being a passionate conductor, Andrizzi is a dedicated educator. He has worked since 2013 as the conductor and head of the orchestral program at the prestigious Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he has helped in the development of a top-rated orchestral studies program. Andrizzi is very passionate about his work with young musicians and has often collaborated with international young artist programs, including the Ryan Opera Center, the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival, and the Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Program.
In addition, he has guest-conducted in various university music programs, such as at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and the DePaul University, and taught conducting master classes in some of the best U.S. music schools, including the Cleveland Institute of Music. Andrizzi has also conducted many all-state, honors and youth orchestras. Andrizzi has collaborated with several orchestras to create and lead their family, education, and holiday programs, ultimately creating a special relationship with the Chicago Philharmonic and conducting the orchestra’s outreach and side-by-side programs.
Andrizzi is a recipient of the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2021 Conductor of the Year Award (college/university division), an honorable mention award at the International Competition for Conductors of Contemporary Music “4X4 Prize” and a winner of the P. Barrasso International Competition for Chamber Music. Previous positions include music director and conductor of the Cervantes Orchestra of Chicago, an orchestra dedicated to Hispanic and Spanish classical music. He also served as assistant conductor to Maestros Andrew Davis and James Conlon.
Born in Rome, Andrizzi received a diploma in piano performance from the A. Casella Conservatory and graduated in both conducting and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. After he moved to the United States, he earned both a master’s degree in conducting at Bard College and a doctorate in conducting performance at Northwestern University. After leaving Italy, he lived and worked in both Portugal and Spain, before moving to the Chicago area, where he currently resides with his wife and three children. His traveling experiences have helped him become proficient in several different languages.
Recent guest-conducting engagements have included his debut with the Richmond Symphony and the Orchestra Sinfonica Marchigiana and with the Joffrey Ballet.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
