Born in Caltagirone, Sicily, Francesco Angelico regularly conducts at
major opera houses worldwide, including Tokyo Opera City, the Bavarian
State Opera in Munich, Stuttgart Opera, Graz Opera, and Théâtre du
Capitole in Toulouse.
His work on the German repertoire is highly praised, particularly his
interpretation of Wagner’s Das Ring der Nibelungen and the
Schumann-Brahms cycle, which have received unanimous critical acclaim.
During the 2023-24 concert season, Francesco Angelico conducted the
Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Opéra Orchestre National de
Montpellier, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Robert Schumann
Philharmonie, and the Bundesjugendorchester on tour in Germany and
Slovenia.
In the 2024-25 season, he returned to the Bavarian State Opera to conduct
Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr, and conducted L’Elisir
d’amore by Donizetti at the Latvian National Opera in Riga, and Madama
Butterfly in Ancona. In December 2024, he debuted with the Yomiuri
Nippon Symphony Orchestra on a tour across Japan’s major concert halls.
Highlights of the 2025–26 season include a new production of Der
Freischütz by Weber at the Gothenburg Opera, his debut at the
Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in La Bohème; the French
premiere of Die Passagierin by Weinberg in a new production at the
Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Turandot at the Niedersächsisches
Staatstheater Hannover, Rigoletto at the Dresden Opera, as well as
symphonic concerts with the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg, the
Staatsorchester Hannover, and the Gunma Symphony Orchestra.
Starting from the 2026-27 season, Francesco Angelico will serve as General
Music Director at the Niedersächsisches Staatstheater Hannover.
From 2017 to 2025, he served as General Music Director of the Hessisches
Staatstheater Kassel, and since 2024 has been Chief Conductor of the
Staatsorchester Kassel. At the end of his tenure, the orchestra, with the
approval of the Hessian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture,
awarded him the title of “Ehrendirigent” (Honorary Conductor). From 2013
to 2017, he was principal conductor of the Tiroler Symphonieorchester
Innsbruck and the Landestheater Innsbruck.
Since October 2025, Francesco Angelico has been Professor of Opera
Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
After graduating in cello from the Conservatory of Modena in 2001, he
began studying conducting with Giorgio Bernasconi at the Conservatory of
Lugano in 2003, graduating in 2006. During this time, he worked as
Bernasconi's assistant in the Swiss Radio's "900 Passato e presente"
concert series for contemporary music, which sparked his strong interest
in contemporary music.
In 2016, he received the Austrian Musical Theatre Award “Goldener
Schikaneder” for his interpretation of Francesco Cilea’s Adriana
Lecouvreur. In 2011, he won the Deutscher Dirigentenpreis.
April 2026