Born in Morbegno (Sondrio) in 1991, Lorenzo Passerini graduated with honors in trombone at the Conservatoire in Como in 2009. In 2014 he got a second-level academic diploma at the Conservatoire in Aosta. As a trombonist, he went on tours around the whole world under the direction of conductors like John Axelrod, Andrey Boreyko, Fabio Luisi and Riccardo Muti.
In 2010 Mr. Passerini began the studies to become an orchestra conductor with Maestro Ennio Nicotra, taking lessons by John Axelrod, Massimiliano Caldi, Gilberto Serembe, Pietro Mianiti, Oleg Caetani and Antonio Eros Negri.
Lorenzo’s career as a conductor began in December 2011, conducting the Orchestra Antonio Vivaldi, which was created by him with composer Piergiorgio Ratti.
In 2016 he made his debut as guest conductor of the Orchestra ICO della Magna Grecia and the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta.
The following year he conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Romanian National Opera Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orchestra Camerata Musica Wien, Symphony Orchestra of the State of Mexico and Milano Chamber Orchestra.
Since 2015 he has collaborated regularly with Maestro Nicola Luisotti. In Autumn 2018 Lorenzo was Maestro Luisotti’s assistant conductor in the production of Puccini’s Turandot at the Teatro Real in Madrid. That same year he conducted once again the Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Orchestra Sinfonica Metropolitana di Bari and the DITTO Orchestra in the tour in South Korea with soprano Sumi Jo.
In 2019/20 he conducted the State Symphony Orchestra “Novaya Rossiya” at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall with soprano Nadine Sierra, Ravello Festival’s Concerto all’Alba with the Salerno Symphony Orchestra, Tosca at the Teatro Regio in Turin replacing Daniel Oren, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at the National Opera in Warsaw and a Gala concert with tenor Francesco Demuro at the Teatro dell’Opera in Sassari and finished the season at the Sydney Opera House conducting Charles Gounod’s Faust.
2020/21 season began for Lorenzo Passerini at the Teatro Real in Madrid with the opera Un ballo in maschera, where he shared the stage with Nicola Luisotti; he led the Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini in Parma, and appeared in Genoa with the Carlo Felice Theatre Orchestra. Lorenzo conducted Prokofiev’s Pierino e il Lupo with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, made his debut at the Theatre of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria with Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and conducted Aida at the Sydney Opera House.
2021/22 season opened for Maestro Passerini at the Zagabria National Theatre with Puccini’s La Rondine. He returned to the orchestra pit of the Sydney Opera House for Puccini’s La Bohème, and made his debut at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli with Bellini’s La Sonnambula together with Jessica Pratt and Francesco Demuro. Further appearences were at Frankfurt Opera for Giordano’s Fedora at the Frankfurt Opera House, at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie for a Gala with soprano Nadine Sierra, at the Konzerthaus Dortmund for a Gala with soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Xabier Anduaga, at the Essen Opera House for Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
At the Savonlinna Opera Festival Lorenzo conducted Puccini’s Tosca with Matthew Polenzani and Ludovic Tézier and he finished the season with a Gala performance together with soprano Pretty Yende at the Turku Festival in Finland.
2022/23 season began with Puccini’s La Bohème at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and the Köln Opera House. He made his conducting debut with Verdi’s Rigoletto in Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Massenet’s Manon at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opera Las Palmas. He also returned to the National Opera in Warsaw for Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. At the end of the season, Maestro Passerini made his Théâtre des Champs-Élysées house debut with La Bohème.
Season 2023/24 began with two Gala concerts together with soprano Pretty Yende at the Antwerp Symphony and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, followed by his ABAO Olbe house debut with Roméo et Juliette alongside Nadine Sierra and Javier Camarena, Aida in Brisbane, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Lucia di Lammermoor at Hamburg State Opera, Norma at Teatro di San Carlo, The Pearl Fishers at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Canadian Opera House debut with Medea alongside Sondra Radvanovsky and Matthew Polenzani. Moreover, he made his US debut at the Cincinnati Festival with La Traviata, and he joined Pretty Yende and Artur Rucinski for their Gala concert at the Dortmund Festival.
Season 2025/2026 opened with a gala concert with Jonathan Tetelman in Essen and La forza del destino in Bilbao. In December 2025, he conducted a gala concert in Bologna and a Christmas concert in Paris, both with Pretty Yende, and on January 1, 2026, the New Year’s Concert at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. During 2026, he conducted Norma in Paris, Madama Butterfly in Frankfurt, Aida in Riga (with Marina Rebeka, Elīna Garanča, and Ludovic Tézier), Carmen in Dresden, and Werther in Naples (with Jonas Kaufmann). In July 2026, he made his house debut at the Royal Opera House in London with La Bohème.
Engagements for the 2026/27 season include revivals of Carmen and La bohème at the Semperoper Dresden, a new production of Manon Lescaut at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with Roberto Alagna and Ailyn Pérez, Norma at the Vienna State Opera, Le nozze di Figaro and Turandot at the Cincinnati Festival, and L’elisir d’amore at the Canadian Opera Company. Further highlights include a Gala Concert with Jonathan Tetelman at the Essen Philharmonie, as well as two symphony concerts, one with the Balearic Symphony Orchestra and one with the Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Since September 2024, Lorenzo Passerini has been Principal Conductor of the Jyväskylä Sinfonia (Finland), with whom he conducts six symphony concerts per season.
He has been the founder and artistic director of the Antonio Vivaldi Orchestra (Italy) since its founding in December 2011.
He is represented internationally by manager Gianluca Macheda (GM Art & Music).
Gianluca Macheda
ul. Grzybowska 43a, lok. 7200-855
WarsawPoland
gmacheda@gmartandmusic.com
Martina Biagini
Via Romana 578/B
55100 Lucca, Italy
+39 3479762848
mbiagini@gmartandmusic.com
“Italian Maestro Lorenzo Passerini conducted the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with precision, insight and passion.”
Gillian Wills, Australian Stage
“Lorenzo Passerini, the 31-year- old conductor from Lombardy, is a marvel.”
Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack
“Artur Ruciński est un Marcello idéal, confiant, pourvu d’une très belle voix et d’une belle projection.
Xavier Pujol, Opera Online
“The great triumph of the evening was Lorenzo Passerini. The conductor of Lombardy origin (born in 1991), at the helm of a remarkable Orchestre national de France, is intensely aware of this imaginative, quivering score, whose subtly rhythmic architecture leads the audience to the dramatic outcome we know so well. This is the young maestro’s highly acclaimed first appearance in Paris!”
François Lesueur, Concert Classic
“Lorenzo Passerini paces the rhythm with ballet dancer-like movements, with an almost naive enthusiasm, but with precise discipline. The Jyväskylä Sinfonia literally hangs from the hands of its conductor, and suddenly sounds rich and abundant, as if forgetting its Nordic minimalist tendencies.”
Jemo Kettunen, Keskisuomalainen
“Conductor Lorenzo Passerini immerses his energetic awareness into the drama of Victor Hugo’s ‘Le Roi s’amuse’. Bravo Passerini! A conductor who not only reads the notes but also decodes the libretto.”
Pino De Stasio, Gazzamerlina
“The musical direction was entrusted to Maestro Lorenzo Passerini, who made a triumphant appearance at the ABAO. With great gestures and commitment from the pit, rarely seen before, the young Italian conductor made the most of a Basque Symphony Orchestra that gave a top-notch performance right from the opening prologue. Suited to the melancholic passages required by Gounod’s score, one appreciated a great job in accompanying the singers, as well as great passion and intensity in tempering and conducting a Bilbao Opera Chorus that delighted us with a remarkable performance. Thrilled to contemplate his successful work from the pit of the Euskalduna and, having witnessed his triumph in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria last May with Lucia di Lammermoor, from these pages I dare predict a very promising future for this young conductor”
José Nogueira, PRÓ OPERA
“Concerning the musical texture, which is without a doubt of key importance to opera theater, the conducting of Maestro Lorenzo Passerini is particularly exquisite, captivating and vigorous. He is able to emphasize the dramatic situations with a firm gesture, when the baton seems to throw slashes to wound the soul – during the execution of the symphony or when the uproar of “Guerra! Guerra!” invades the scene – and then he can accompany the whole orchestra with the broad, gentle movements of the arms. The young conductor shows the ability to assess the weight of the orchestra in relation to the singing, which is supported by a polychromatic concertation that overcomes the performing difficulties of Bellini’s score. This ensures incisiveness, a good choice of tempo and a balanced connection between the orchestral pit and the stage. The Orchestra Massimo shows its excellent condition, perfectly adhering to the gesture that animates the podium.”
Norma Giuca