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Biography

Anthony Barrese has earned accolades as both a composer and a conductor. He is the recipient of the 2007 Georg Solti Foundation U.S. award for young conductors. His original works have won numerous awards, and he is regularly engaged by opera companies in North America and Italy.

Currently Mr. Barrese works as a freelance composer and conductor. He has led several productions with Sarasota Opera (Lakmé, Le nozze di Figaro, Hansel and Gretel), and with Opera Southwest (Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, La cenerentola) where he is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. He was the Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Opera in 2006-2007 and returned there as Guest Conductor for a production of Tosca in 2008.

In November 2008 Mr. Barrese conducted a new production of Turandot in Ascoli Piceno’s historic Teatro Ventidio Basso, with a cast that included Nicola Martinucci as Calaf. He also made his French debut conducting Turandot at the Opéra de Massy.

In recent seasons Mr. Barrese made debuts with Boston Lyric Opera (Don Giovanni), Mercury Opera, Edmonton (Il tabarro) and DePaul Opera Theater (Ned Rorem’s Our Town).

Mr. Barrese is the recipient of numerous composition awards including a N.E.C. Contemporary Ensemble Composition Competition Award for his Madrigale a 3 voci femminili, and two B.M.I. Student Composers Awards. As a musicologist, Mr. Barrese rediscovered, prepared, and edited the critical edition of Franco Faccio’s opera Amleto, in conjunction with Casa Ricordi.

He made his operatic conducting debut in Milan with La bohème and recorded Roberto Andreoni’s quattro luci sul lago with ”I Solisti della Scala” (a chamber group made up of the first chair musicians of the La Scala Philharmonic) for broadcast on Italian National Radio (RAI 3).

Among his 2011-12 performances Mr. Barrese will conduct Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi with Opera Southwest, and will return to Sarasota Opera for Lucia di Lammermoor.

In the 2012-2013 season Mr. Barrese will conduct Rossini’s Otello with the American staged premiere of the finale lieto at Opera Southwest. He will also return to Dallas Opera for a production of Bizet’s Dr. Miracle, as well as make his Opera Theatre of St. Louis debut with Smetana’s The Kiss.