Marco Parisotto

Marco Parisotto, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is a Canadian conductor of Italian lineage.

• "Marco Parisotto steps onto the podium [Montreal Symphony Orchestra] and the enchantment commences…In Francesca da Rimini [Tchaikovsky] his formidable musical power radiated...What a performance! Better yet, this is the signature of an artist who stands among the greatest." (Le Devoir)

Born in Montreal of Italian lineage, Marco Parisotto is among Canada's foremost conductors on the international scene. A frequent guest with orchestras around the globe, with unrelentingly high standards of performance he continues to thrill audiences with his passionate musicmaking.

His close association with orchestras is manifested through the strong relationships he has maintained with ensembles under his leadership. In 2014 he was unanimously elected as Music Director of the Jalisco Philharmonic, transforming this ensemble into one of Latin America’s most distinguished orchestras. Under his direction, the Jalisco Philharmonic garnered international attention with its virtuosic performances and participated in recordings, tours, international festivals and major events such as Placido Domingo’s Operalia. During his tenure the orchestra performed on tour in leading concert halls in Berlin, Munich, Essen, Vienna, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Busan and Mexico City which were received with great critical and public acclaim. As well, through Maestro Parisotto, the orchestra undertook significant commercial recording projects, starting with the philharmonic’s first release under the SONY Classical label.

“Amidst this exciting pillar of sound growing constantly, stands Marco Parisotto. Under his control, directing the orchestra with the greatest finesse, like an architect he gives precise instructions that develop into a majestic edifice of sound…He ingeniously manages the full spectrum of colors of his orchestra… We hope that this fantastic orchestra with this dynamic conductor will visit our German concert halls more frequently, bringing with them their style of spicy and fiery music-making.”• Klassik Begeistert, Raphael Eckardt

Following a special concert celebrating Canada-China relations in 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, Marco Parisotto was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2003. He has also been Music Director of the Ontario Philharmonic in Canada since 1996 and is credited with building this orchestra to the high standard it enjoys today. Under his leadership Ontario Philharmonic has received superlative audience and media recognition.

“…a fantastic orchestra [Ontario Philharmonic] being led by a first-rate conductor”• Musical Toronto

Marco Parisotto has won critical and public praise for his interpretations of the great Austro-German repertoire - as R.Strauss, Bruckner, Wagner - and as an avid Mahlerian, he is honoured to have been made titular member of the Mahler Society Mexico. He has also been acclaimed for his readings of Russian masters as Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and for his passionate performances in the operatic field. He has led productions including, among others, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Carmen, Otello, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, La Boheme, Aida, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and Turandot.

“The star of the evening was without a doubt Marco Parisotto…inspired, passionate and in a virtual state of grace, impressing a supreme flow and agility to this extremely challenging opera [Puccini’s Turandot].”• Opera World

Marco Parisotto has appeared in major concert halls throughout the world, conducting many leading orchestras including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano "La Verdi", Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, New Jersey Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, Quebec Symphony, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Busan Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic, Georges Enescu Philharmonic, Janacek Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Marseille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Philharmonique de Liège. He was received with great enthusiasm at the international Festivals of Evian, Menton, Besançon, Wieniawski International Festival (Poland), May Festival of Guadalajara, Festival of Opera in Jalisco, Skaneateles Festival New York, Busan Maru International Music Festival and Bolzano Festival; at the Montreal Opera, Shanghai Opera, Opera Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, Serbian National Theatre; in Mexico with the Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM, Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes, Orquesta Sinfonica de UANL, Camerata de Coahuila, Sinfonica Carlos Chavez, Camara de Bellas Artes, Orquesta de Baja California; in China with the Shanghai Symphony, China National Symphony and Gui Yang Symphony. He has also led to acclaim the Polish National Radio Symphony, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, Orchestra Nazionale della RAI of Torino, Orquesta de Cordoba, Orchestre de Bayonne Cote-Basque. On several occasions, at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, he was a guest of Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux.

Marco Parisotto is the winner of seven major international competitions. He crowned these achievements in 1997 with the ‘Besançon International Competition for Conductors’, joining the ranks of maestros like Seiji Ozawa and Michel Plasson. A first in this elite events history, he was awarded the Grand Prix as well as the Prix du Public. Other top prizes have included the Tokyo International Conductors' Competition in Japan, Constantin Silvestri Competition in Romania and the Antonio Pedrotti in Italy. He was moreover conferred with all other special awards at these events.

He took his training both as a violinist and pianist and studied conducting with eminent maestros including Leonard Bernstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Brück, Yuri Temirkanov, Georg Tintner and, initially, with Raffi Armenian at the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec in Montreal.