Italian conductor Marcello Cormio has distinguished himself for his energetic style and engaging persona on the podium. His insightful approach to the score and refined musicianship—combined with a great sense of dramatic pacing—have gained him the favor of orchestras, opera companies, and audiences alike. Cormio’s work ranges from operatic and symphonic conducting to coaching singers to education at all levels. He has been active as a pianist, coach and conductor for over two decades, both in Europe and in the USA.

During the upcoming season, he will debut with Syracuse Opera and Tri-Cities Opera conducting Jorge Sosa’s I am a dreamer who no longer dreams. He will also appear as a guest conductor with the Santa Fe Pro Musica orchestra, and will lead a production of Puccini’s La rondine at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Cormio has been a frequent guest conductor at the Sarasota Opera, leading productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2023), Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles (2022), Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (2021). In the summer of 2021, he led a production of La Traviata with La Musica Lirica Opera Festival.

The South Florida Classical praised him as "an assured hand in the pit, conducting the score with vitality while leaving the singers room to breathe in their solos" for Così fan tutte during Sarasota Opera's 2016 season.  Cormio’s “notable” conducting with Sarasota Opera in the 2014 season was praised for a “lovely, light touch with the music”: “the young Italian drew vital and spirited playing, with the fizzing ensemble exciting yet with a fine balancing of solo voices, chorus and orchestra” (SFCR).

At the Sarasota Opera he also counts a double bill of the rarely seen Rita by Donizetti and Il segreto di Susanna by Wolf-Ferrari among his credits with this company, as well as Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

As a symphonic conductor, Cormio has been recently named Music Director of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, leading a highly successful inaugural concert in the 2023-2024 season.

He has appeared with orchestras around the United States and Europe, including the San Antonio Symphony, the Orchestra della Società dei Concerti di Bari, the Bacau Symphony, and the Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio di Bari. In recent years, he has developed a fruitful artistic relationship with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Città Metropolitana di Bari, leading the orchestra in several cycles of performances as guest conductor. He has also served as cover conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with the Irish Tenors, serving as conductor for their 2018 Christmas tour, and leading several performances to sold out auditoriums around North America.

Cormio’s commitment to education has been constant and all-encompassing throughout his career. He currently devotes a considerable part of his time and energies to his work as Music Director of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras: there, he leads symphonic ensembles and oversees an El Sistema community program as well as several other impactful educational endeavors, sharing his inexhaustible passion for music with hundreds of young talents every year and contributing to building the future generations of orchestra musicians.

He has also been on the faculty of the University of Kentucky as Director of the University of Kentucky Philharmonia orchestra.

In the educational realm, Cormio has also been active as an opera conductor and coach throughout his career, both at academic institutions and in summer music festivals. He has led productions of L’elisir d’amore, Così fan tutte and A Room with a View at the Michigan State University, as well as Street Scene at the West Virginia University, where he was the Head of the Opera Program in 2014-15. Among his credits are also opera scenes productions at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Indiana University School of Music, and Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette and The Phantom of the Opera with the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.   

He is sought after as a faculty at summer opera festivals, such as the Savannah VOICE Festival (conductor of Hansel and Gretel), the Bay View Music Festival (conductor of Die Zauberflöte), Opera do Recife (Brazil), Prague Summer Nights (Czech Republic), Classic Lyric Arts - Berkshires. He was also the Artistic Director of the Opera Lucca Festival in Lucca, Italy, for three editions.

Cormio holds graduate degrees in piano, composition, conducting, and musicology from Italian conservatories and universities, as well as a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky.