GIANLUCA MARCIANÒ

Praised by The Sunday Times for his “invariably theatrical and idiomatic conducting” and by Opera Now for his “wide-eyed sense of discovery”, Gianluca Marcianò has established an international career spanning both the opera house and concert platform. He is currently Artistic Director of the Al Bustan Festival in Lebanon, Founder and Artistic Director of the Lerici Music Festival in Italy, Principal Conductor of the Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Taranto and Matera, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include a New Year concert at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, conducting the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern with Asmik Grigorian and Andrey Zhilikhovsky, and a return to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Marcianò also returns to the Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka in Gdańsk with Sir Bryn Terfel and appears with the Brașov Philharmonic. His operatic engagements include a return to Grange Park Opera for Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, alongside his continuing commitments with the Orchestra della Magna Grecia, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Al Bustan Festival and Lerici Music Festival.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season included his debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo conducting Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer with Sir Bryn Terfel and Asmik Grigorian, the Shanghai International Arts Festival with Terfel, and a concert with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra as part of Verbier Festival Shenzhen. He returned to Grange Park Opera for Verdi’s Don Carlo and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, conducting the Orchestra of English National Opera, and to the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. Symphonic highlights included a concert with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and further projects across Europe.

Marcianò has conducted at leading opera houses, orchestras and festivals including English National Opera, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Guangzhou Opera House, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Ljubljana Festival, Tbilisi State Opera, Serbian National Theatre and the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. His operatic repertoire encompasses works by Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti through Verdi and Puccini to Wagner, Strauss, Britten and contemporary repertoire.

Marcianò has collaborated with many of the world’s leading singers, among them Sir Bryn Terfel, Asmik Grigorian, Elīna Garanča, Sumi Jo, Joseph Calleja, Piotr Beczała, Ludovic Tézier, Simon Keenlyside, Thomas Hampson, Carlos Álvarez, Olga Peretyatko and Jessica Pratt.

Alongside his conducting career, Marcianò has developed a distinctive profile as an artistic leader and institution builder. As Music Director of the Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theatre, he led a period of artistic renewal which included the creation of a Young Artists Programme, educational initiatives and new commissions. He subsequently held a leadership position at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, further developing the institution’s artistic standards and international profile.

In 2017 Marcianò founded the Lerici Music Festival in his home region of Liguria. Under his artistic direction, the festival has developed into an international meeting place for established and emerging artists, bringing together opera, orchestral and chamber music and placing particular emphasis on the development of young musicians. Since 2010 he has also served as Artistic Director of Lebanon’s Al Bustan Festival, where his work has combined ambitious international programming with a longstanding commitment to cultural exchange.

Marcianò’s discography includes the acclaimed album Momento Immobile with soprano Venera Gimadieva and the Hallé Orchestra. He is an Ambassador for Opera for Peace and holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Pisa. 

September 2026