Marco Rizzello, born in Rimini, Italy in 1997, approached music from a very young age, under the guidance of his mother. A first prize winner in many international piano competitions, his 2022 engagements include performances for the Cleveland Art Song Festival 2022, a Fellowship as an Opera Coach for the Aspen Music Festival´s production of Giuseppe Verdi´s Falstaff with Patrick Summers (starring Bryn Terfel as title role). He made his debut at the age of thirteen, being selected by RAI – Radio Televisione Italiana to play at the Arturo Toscanini Auditorium in Turin as a guest of the TV program “ll gran concerto”. His professional activities include solo piano and collaborative recitals in some of the main Italian cities (Roma, Milano, Torino, Firenze, Venezia, Padova, Pesaro, Ravenna, Grosseto, Cesena, Rimini, Vicenza, Treviso, Catania) as well as abroad (Innsbruck, Aarhus, Paris, Enschede, Lubjana, New York, Cleveland, Aspen).
Some of the most important engagements in Italy include the Settimane Musicali al Teatro Olimpico (2020 and 2017 in Vicenza) and the Piano Echos Festival (2019). During his profession as a collaborative pianist, both in Italy and in the States, he had the opportunity to work for internationally-renowned voice pedagogues and singers including Catherine Malfitano, Joan Patenaude – Yarnell, Shirley Close, Bruno Praticò and Anna Vandi. He has worked alongside notable conductors and stage directors including Patrick Summers, Manlio Benzi, Luca Ferrara, Paula Suozzi, Chìa Patiño, Massimo Merone and Paolo Manetti. In addition, Mr. Rizzello has played alongside professional singers and young prizewinners of renowned international Voice Competitions, including Luca Grassi, Gabriella Morigi, Ramiro Maturana, Maria Stella Maurizi, and Mariangela Marini (Winners of the Spoleto voice competition), Emily Treigle and Le Bu (Winners of the competition at the Metropolitan Opera).
He played for Masterclasses of Renée Fleming (Aspen Music Festival 2022), Matthew Rose and Stephanie Blythe (Manhattan School of Music). Studying with Prof. Giorgio Farina, he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in 2016 at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “B. Maderna” in Cesena, Italy, with a total score of 110/110 cum laude. In 2018, studying with Prof. Giovanni Valentini, he obtained his Master’s Degree in Solo Piano at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “G. Rossini” in Pesaro, with a total score of 110/110 cum laude and honorable mention.
In the meantime, he attended the “Incontri col maestro” International Piano Academy in Imola, graduating in 2021 under the guidance of Prof. Boris Petrushansky and Prof. Marlies Van Gent. In 2021, under the guidance of Ubaldo Fabbri, he obtained his Master’s Degree in collaborative piano at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “G. Rossini” in Pesaro, with a total score of 110/110 cum laude and honorable mention. Particularly interested in conducting, he took lessons with Maureen Hynes at the Manhattan School of Music and privately with Joseph Rescigno. He moved to the New York in 2021 and he is currently in the second and final year of his PPD in collaborative piano at Manhattan School of Music, under the prestigious tutelage of Warren Jones and Thomas Lausmann.