Our Vocal Faculty

Emanuela Di Pietro  

AOI Chorus Master 

We are delighted to announce that Emanuela Di Pietro, renowned for her roles as Chorus Master at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, and Teatro Verdi in Trieste, will join our faculty as a Master Course teacher. She will also conduct the AOI Chorus for our highly anticipated production of Cavalleria Rusticana in August 2025.

Emanuela graduated "Magna cum laude probatus" in Gregorian chant and sacred music from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. Since the 1992/93 academic year, she has been a dedicated lecturer in Choral Repertory and Choir Direction at the San Pietro a Maiella Music Conservatory in Naples. Her passion for teaching extends internationally; since 2011, she has been instructing in the Master of Choir Conducting and Italian Choral Singing at the Conservatory of Boulogne Billancourt in Paris, as part of the Erasmus Project. Additionally, she is qualified to teach 'Scenic Arts' at Music Conservatories and has been an esteemed teacher of Vocal and Choral practice at the IALS in Rome. Her teaching experience includes a position as a lecturer in Vocality and Choir Direction at the University of Naples, as well as leading Masters courses in Choir Direction and Choral practice in Cosenza and Sapri. Her academic journey also includes training at the National Academy of Dance and La Sapienza University in Rome.

Roles and Career

Emanuela’s artistic career is nothing short of remarkable. In 2023, she conducted Tosca by Puccini in Lecce and in 2022, led the Youth Orchestra and Choir in the Abu Dhabi Winter Concert, performing Fauré's Pavane. Her 2019 production of La Traviata by Verdi in Lecce, as part of a project by the Puglia region and the Lecce Lyric Choir, was a standout achievement. She has served as Choir Master for Don Giovanni by Mozart and held the same role at the Pafos Aphrodite Festival in 2018 for Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini. Emanuela's expertise was also highlighted in 2017 when she was the Choir Master for Beethoven's IX Symphony under the baton of Daniel Oren, and later that year for the inauguration of the Apollo Theater in Lecce with conductor G.L. Gelmetti. Her role as a teacher of singing and ensemble music in a prestigious Masterclass on Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart, held at the Conservatory of Naples, culminated in two performances at the Sannazzaro Theatre in Naples.

Her repertoire extends to L’Elisir d’Amore by Donizetti, which she conducted in Novoli and Trepuzzi in 2016. Emanuela was the Choir Conductor of the Verdi Festival in Beijing in 2013, and her work on the RAI/Andermann production of Cenerentola, una fiaba in diretta in 2012 was broadcast live worldwide. In 2010, she was the Choir Master for the globally broadcast production of Rigoletto a Mantova, and from 2004 to 2008, she served as the Chorus Master at the Teatro La Fenice Foundation in Venice. Her tenure as Chorus Master also includes positions at the Teatro Verdi Foundation in Trieste and the Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari. Emanuela's career as a Chorus Master began in 1981, and she has since been a key figure in numerous prestigious opera and symphonic seasons across Italy and abroad.

Emanuela Di Pietro's work has taken her around the globe, performing in countries such as Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Malta, the USA, Canada, France, the UK, Switzerland, Argentina, Germany, and many others, including a notable appearance at the Salzburg Festival. She founded the "Solisti Cantori" choir in 1994 and was Chorus Master for the opera season at the "A. Rendano" Theatre in Cosenza for over a decade. Her collaborations with renowned conductors like Abbado, Karajan, Mehta, and Gelmetti, among others, have solidified her reputation as a leading figure in choral music, with numerous CD and DVD recordings to her name. We are honored to have her join us at AOI, where her exceptional talent and dedication will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of opera singers and musicians.

Listen to Emanuela