ABOUT OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR MARCO PARISOTTO

● Place des Arts’ Wilfrid-Pelletier Hall is full, Marco Parisotto steps onto the podium and the enchantment commences... What a musician! Under his baton, Haydn found all the verve and humour one could hope for...he made the Montreal Symphony Orchestra sound like a marvel.
...In Francesca da Rimini [Tchaikovsky] Marco Parisotto’s formidable musical power radiated, revealing the mastery of this score to the audience…To hear him efficiently animate this sonic canvas with all its warm or harsh colours was electrifying... What a performance! Better yet, this is the signature of an artist who stands among the greatest.
Montreal Symphony Orchestra - LE DEVOIR

● In my long career I've heard The Rite of Spring at least 50 times with most of the major orchestras and conductors. Starting with Pierre Monteux[...] Karajan, Boulez, Bernstein[...] Well! Marco Parisotto held me spellbound from one end to the other. He succeeded in realizing a performance that was masterful both musically and technically... It was indeed a commanding Rite[...] (Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer)
Ottawa Symphony Orchestra - LE DROIT

● This young conductor belongs to the greatest. Not since the debuts of Chailly and Rattle have I been so impressed.
National Arts CentreOrchestra - LE DROIT

● Longtime music director Marco Parisotto has slowly, steadily built this ensemble [Ontario Philharmonic] into a noteworthy big-city orchestra… The Mahler [Symphony no.1] was shaped, paced and coloured by Parisotto with the care and assurance of a true master… Details came to life in a performance that, under Parisotto’s firm leadership, was direct, transparent and mesmerizing.
Ontario Philharmonic - MUSICAL TORONTO

● Marco Parisotto may get on the list to succeed Saraste [at the Toronto Symphony] ...Saturday night in Roy Thomson Hall, the Montreal-born conductor leapt into a high position on the list.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra - THE TORONTO STAR

●...[Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci]: extraordinary performance... real opera and deeply moving... Marco Parisotto drew undreamt-of refinement from the OSM... The best opera performance of the year.
Opera de Montréal - LA PRESSE

● …both soloists [Igor and Valeri Oistrakh] were greatly assisted by extremely supportive playing from the Philharmonia Orchestra under Marco Parisotto.
Philharmonia Orchestra (London) - THE STRAD

●...Marco Parisotto could take on the world... I heard Parisotto lead this ensemble [Ontario Philharmonic] last Saturday at Koerner Hall. To say I was surprised is putting it mildly. Everything about Parisotto's exacting and fluid style on the podium suggested a major international talent.
Ontario Philharmonic - MONTREAL GAZETTE

● Bruckner’s long, long musical developments need a steady hand that also can take a long view of where the music is going. Silences are as important as the loud swells. And Parisotto revealed himself to be the master of all he surveyed.
Ontario Philharmonic - MUSICAL TORONTO

● I can't even begin to count the number of recordings of the work [Petrushka] I've heard, but nothing came even close to the transparency and vivid coloration of conductor Marco Parisotto's and the orchestra's collaboration.
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - CLASSICAL NEW JERSEY SOCIETY

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Montreal of Italian lineage, Marco Parisotto is among Canada's foremost conductors on the international scene. A guest with orchestras around the globe, with unrelentingly high standards of performance, he continues to thrill audiences with his passionate musicmaking. He is the winner of seven major international competitions and crowned these achievements at the1997 “Besançon International Competition for Conductors”, being awarded both the Grand Prix as well as the Prix du Public - a historical first at this elite event.

As Artistic Director of the Ontario Philharmonic (OP), a title he has held for over two decades, he has earned praise for the orchestra’s development and adventurous performances, and he is credited with building OP 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’s close association with orchestras is manifested through the strong relationships he has maintained with ensembles under his leadership. In 2013,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 Operalia, The World Opera Competition. During his tenure, the orchestra undertook major concert tours eliciting great critical and public acclaim as they visited Germany, Austria, the USA and Mexico in leading concert halls of Berlin, Munich, Essen, Vienna, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Busan and Mexico City. As well, through Maestro Parisotto, the orchestra completed 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 until2003.

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 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 Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, 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, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Busan Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Erfurt Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic, Georges Enescu Philharmonic, Janacek Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole deToulouse, 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, Festival Cervantino, 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 Côte-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 important international competitions. Aside from his noteworthy awards at the prestigious Besançon Competition, joining the ranks of maestros like Seiji Ozawa and Michel Plasson, 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 honored 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.