MY NAME IS LUCA

Luca Ballabio is active as a conductor in Italy and internationally, combining solid orchestral experience with a particular focus on opera and an extensive symphonic activity.

He made his conducting debut in 2021 at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, conducting Il viaggio a Reims in Emilio Sagi’s historic production. The debut received signi”can’t critical acclaim, with reviewers praising his “conducting talent” and highlighting both “his command in coordinating the complexity of the whole” and “a profound reading of the score”.

Since then, he has been invited to conduct prestigious musical institutions and ensembles in Italy and abroad, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana – OSI, Orchestra della Toscana – ORT, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Constanta, Vidin State Philharmonic and Roma Tre Orchestra.

He has also made his debut in major Italian concert seasons and festivals, including Serate Musicali at Milan’s prestigious Sala Verdi, the Reate Festival and the Viotti-Valsesia International Violin Competition.

In 2024, he was selected as a Conducting Fellow at the Verbier Festival, where he worked as an assistant and further developed his conducting practice alongside some of the most highly regarded conductors on the international scene, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Gábor Takács-Nagy and Klaus Mäkelä. As part of the Festival’s Windows Concerts, he also conducted a concert devoted to the symphonic works of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini.

His work in opera is a particularly signi”cant part of his artistic path, further developed through courses and masterclasses with Riccardo Muti and Daniel Oren. His previous experience as assistant conductor to Sesto Quatrini also provided him with direct and in-depth insight into the theatrical process. Between 2018 and 2020, he collaborated on productions of Tosca, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, La traviata and Norma at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vilnius and at other major European theatres, including La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels, where he was engaged as cover conductor.

He studied conducting at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano under Marc Kissóczy and Arturo Tamayo, while also studying composition, orchestration and score reading.

Since the 2021/22 season, he has been Music Director of the Filarmonica Ettore Pozzoli, with which he has collaborated regularly since 2016. In this role, he conducts symphonic programmes and opera productions, developing a long-term artistic relationship with the orchestra and progressively expanding its repertoire.