Carmen Santoro

Carmen Santoro is one of the foremost vocal coaches of her generation working regularly as répétiteur in Europe’s leading opera houses such as Opernhaus in Zurich, Theater Bolshoi in Moscow, Theatre an der Wien, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Vlaamse Opera in Antwerpen, Lithuanian National Opera, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro San Carlo in Napoli, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Fondazione Toscanini in Parma, Rossini Opera Festival di Pesaro, Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Wexford Festival Opera, and Festival Donizetti in Bergamo.
A sought after teacher, she works at International Opera Studio at Opernhaus in Zurich, Royal College of Music in London, Young Artists Opera Program at Theater Bolshoi in Moscow, Centre di Perfeccionament Placido Domingo‬ at Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Lunenburg Academy in Nova Scotia Canada, Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Scuola dell’Opera at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Alberto Zedda‬’s Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, Accademia del Belcanto “Paolo Grassi” in Martina Franca (Ta). Since 1999 she has also been a guest professor at Showa University in Tokyo. ‬‬‬‬
She regularly collaborates with many singers, including: Luciano Pavarotti‬, Placido Domingo‬, Diana Damrau‬, Mariella Devia‬, Juan Diego Florez‬, Daniela Barcellona‬, John Osborn, Pretty Yende, Lawrence Brownlee, Javier Camarena, Saimir Pirgu‬, Krasimira Stoyanova, and Marlis Petersen. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
Since 2012 she has been Chef du Chant for the new Italian opera productions and Musical Assistant of M. Fabio Luisi‬ at Opernhaus in Zurich. She is also M. Fabio Luisi‬’s Musical Assistant at Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino in Florence and at Festival della Valle d’Itria where she is also Musical Supervisor of Operatic Productions.
She is currently Direttore degli Studi Musicali and M. Fabio Luisi‬’s Assistant at Accademia del Belcanto “Paolo Grassi” in Martina Franca. In addition, since 1995 she has been a professor at “A. Boito” Conservatory of Music in Parma Italy‬‬‬‬‬‬.
In 2018 she was appointed Artistic Director of the Belcanto Opera Festival in Tokyo, Japan.
Her future plans include Verdi’s Nabucco, Vespri Siciliani in Zurich Opernhaus and Bellini’s La Straniera in Florence’s Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as M. Fabio Luisi’s Assistant; Rossini’s Guillaume Tell in Opéra National de Lyon as M. Daniele Rustioni’s Assistant Conductor; and Verdi’s La Traviata in Grand Théâtre de Genève as M. Paolo Carignani’s Assistant Conductor.