SEMANTIX

DANIELE RUSTIONI

Semantix advises conductor Daniele Rustioni on

PR/Communications Strategy in the US.

Daniele Rustioni, 41, is one of the most compelling conductors of his generation and is a major presence at leading opera houses and symphony orchestras. In 2022, the International Opera Award’s named him “Best Conductor.” His opera repertoire numbers over seventy works spanning the centuries and ranging from Italian to French, German to Russian, and more. 

Now in his eighth season as Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon, Rustioni concludes his tenure in summer 2025. He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera from 2021–23, a position created especially for him for the first time in history of the opera house. He has led performances at nearly all of the most important international opera houses and international festivals, including Aix-en-Provence Festival, BBC Proms, Berlin State Opera, Dutch National Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, Teatro Real, Zurich Opera House and the Teatro alla Scala. In Italy, his homeland, he has also conducted at Opera di Roma, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Rossini Opera Festival and Teatro San Carlo (Naples).

In addition to his opera and symphonic concerts, Rustioni and the Opéra National de Lyon give regular performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris as well as at the Aix-en-Provence Summer Festival. He opened the company’s 2024–25 season with critically acclaimed performances of Richard Brunel’s new production of Wozzeck. In July 2024 he received the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres of the French Republic for his cultural services as Music Director of the Opéra National de Lyon.

The Metropolitan Opera has been an important part of Rustioni’s artistic life since his debut in 2017 with Aida. Most recently, he led performances of the new production of Carmen which premiered at the New Year’s Eve Gala on December 31, 2023. Other productions at the Met have included Falstaff, Le Nozze di Figaro, and a new production of Rigoletto. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Met Orchestra in February 2023.

Rustioni has been invited to guest conduct many of the leading orchestras in North America, Europe, U.K., and Asia. Highlights of the 2024 – 2025 season include debuts with the Detroit Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, and San Diego Symphony. He returns to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others. 

In spring 2024, Rustioni completed his tenure as Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra which he repositioned within the orchestral firmament in the U.K. He was Music Director of the Orchestra della Toscana from 2014 – 2020 and served as Artistic Director until January 2023.

Rustioni’s most recent recording was Aigul Akhmetshina’s debut album on Decca. His discography includes a range of repertoire for Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Opera Rara, and Sony Classical. In 2022, Naxos released the video of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Goolden Cockerel directed by Barrie Kosky at the Opéra National de Lyon.

Rustioni began his career in 1993 as a member of Teatro alla Scala’s children’s chorus. He continued his studies at Milan’s Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, Siena’s Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and London’s Royal Academy of Music. He resides in London with his wife violinist Francesca Dego and their daughter.