Hailed as “an outstanding young conductor with brilliance, natural authority and extraordinary abilities” (Ks. Brigitte Fassbaender) Vito Cristofaro is much in demand as a conductor and coach in opera houses throughout Europe. Born in Italy and now resident in Austria, Maestro Cristofaro is currently Kapellmeister and Solorepetitor at Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, where he has led productions of Die verkaufte Braut, La Fanciulla del West, Idomeneo and Eine Nacht in Venedig. This season sees him conducting La Wally, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Ein Walzertraum.
Maestro Cristofaro has been a frequent guest conductor with Orchestra della Provincia di Catanzaro, Sinfonia Podkarpacka, Sinfonietta Baden and Tiroler Ensemble fur Neue Musik. He has worked intensely as an assistant conductor in several festivals including Opernair Gars, Spoleto’s 50th Festival dei due Mondi and OperKlosterneuburg, where he conducted Don Giovanni, La fille du regiment and Carmen. Further repertoire includes Alcina, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Clemenza di Tito, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Falstaff, Der Wildschutz, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana and Don Pasquale.
In May 2012 Maestro Cristofaro was invited to participate and was a third round finalist in the 16th International Malko Conducting Competition in Copenhagen with Lorin Maazel as President Juror.
Trained as both a pianist and violinist, after graduating from the Conservatorio F.Torrefranca in Vibo Valentia, Maestro Cristofaro studied composition in Rome with Francesco Antonioni and conducting in Florence with M°Piero Bellugi. He attended the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna where he studied conducting with Leopold Hager, Mark Stringer, Yuji Yuasa, Konrad Leitner and Erwin Ortner, graduating with top grades and conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.
Maestro Cristofaro’s orchestral performance credits include the Orchestra del Teatro regio di Parma, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto, Orchestra della Provincia di Catanzaro, Pro Arte Orchestra Wien and Webern Orchestra Wien. As apianist, he has participated in masterclasses with Annamaria Pennella, Bruno Canino, Orazio Maione and is a laureate of numerous piano and chamber-music competitions.