Praised for his “sensitive and nuanced” musicianship and for delivering performances “with admirable sweep and tension,” Filippo Ciabatti is a dynamic and versatile conductor who enjoys a multifaceted career.

 

A native of Florence, Italy, Mr. Ciabatti has appeared as a guest conductor with numerous orchestras in Europe and the Americas, including the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Festival Orchestra (Sweden), Orchestra Toscana dei Conservatori (Italy), Park ICM Orchestra (MO), Universidad Central Orchestra (Colombia), Concord Orchestra (MA), and members of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Italy). He regularly serves as cover conductor for the Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME) and will make his guest conducting debut for them in 2024. This fall, he will also make his guest conducting debut with the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra.

 

Mr. Ciabatti has collaborated with artists including Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster David Kim, baritone Nathan Gunn, cellist Gabriel Cabezas, pianist Sally Pinkas, flutist Luciano Tristaino, and mandolinist Carlo Aonzo. An advocate for contemporary music and collaborations between musical genres, he premiered a secular oratorio composed by renowned jazz composer Taylor Ho Bynum, and commissioned a cello concerto by composer Noah Luna that was aired on NPR’s “From the Top.”

 

Starting in October 2023, he will serve as Assistant Conductor of Boston Baroque, the first conductor to be named to that position in the renowned ensemble’s 50-year history. He is the founding Artistic Director of Upper Valley Baroque, a professional orchestral and choral ensemble specializing in Baroque music, which after only two seasons has already received critical acclaim and regularly performs to sold-out houses.

 

Also at ease on the opera stage, Mr. Ciabatti has recently been named Music Director of the Opera Company of Middlebury, where he made his debut with a production of Fidelio in June 2023.While serving as guest conductor at Opera North (NH) and Lyric Theatre at Illinois, he conducted many full operatic productions, including Puccini’s Tosca and Madama Butterfly, Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni starring and directed by Nathan Gunn.

 

Mr. Ciabatti is the Director of Orchestral and Choral Programs at the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College. Since the beginning of his tenure, he has been invested in working on innovative and cross-disciplinary projects that provide exceptional opportunities for both students and audiences. Among others, he collaborated on projects with Martha Graham Dance Company and with Associazione Figli d’Arte Cuticchio, the award-winning company which sustains the historic Sicilian art of “opera dei pupi.” In 2018, he led a Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra tour to Italy, performing Mahler’s 5th Symphony at prominent venues and festivals, in collaboration with the Orchestra Toscana dei Conservatori.

 

As a collaborative pianist and vocal coach, Mr. Ciabatti has been on the faculty of Camerata de’ Bardi in New York City, and Scuola Italia per Giovani Cantanti Lirici in Sant’Angelo in Vado (Italy). He is currently on faculty at the summer opera program Opera Viva! in Verona (Italy). He has played for masterclasses with Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard, William Matteuzzi, and Donald George. In Italy, he worked as vocal coach for the Cherubini Conservatory, Maggio Musicale Formazione, and Florence Opera Academy.

 

Mr. Ciabatti holds advanced degrees in piano, choral conducting, and orchestral conducting from Italy and the United States. He is the winner of the 2021 American Prize in Conducting (college/university division). In 2018, he served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aurora Music Festival (Sweden), under the direction of Jukka-Pekka Saraste.