“Francesco Milioto presides with verve and bite!”“Conductor Francesco Milioto elicited orchestral playing for both operas that was polished, sympathetic and wholly idiomatic.”
Francesco Milioto continues to establish himself as an incredibly gifted conductor whose interpretations
are fueled by deep curiosity, and executed with a philosophy of collaboration.
Maestro Milioto currently serves as Music Director for OPERA San Antonio, The Florentine Opera, and the DePaul Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the music staff at the world-renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago.
His season begins at home, in Chicago, with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring music by Czech composer Kaprálová and Dvořak’s New World Symphony. Mr. Milioto will then open the season for OPERA San Antonio with a wonderful production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola in collaboration with The Orchestra San Antonio. Next, he begins his 14th season at the Lyric Opera of Chicago working on a production of Don Pasquale alongside Music Director Enrique Mazzola. 2027 begins with a DPSO concert featuring music from film, spanning from The Golden Age of Hollywood to the modern day. Maestro Milioto will also conduct both Gianni Schicchi and The Magic Flute for The Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, as well as La traviata in San Antonio. The DPSO will round out its season with Shostakovich’s defiant Symphony No. 5, and Mr. Milioto will also lead DePaul’s Voice and Opera department’s production of Rossini’s La scala di seta.
Maestro Milioto is an avid coach and much sought after master teacher. He looks forward to continuing his fundamental mentorship of the young artists in The Florentine Opera’s Baumgartner Studio Artist Program. He is also extremely excited to begin his second year at DePaul University working with the talented and eager students that make up the unique and diverse ensemble of the DPSO.
As a music director and guest conductor Mr. Milioto has thrived in Chicago and beyond. Over his many years in Chicago, he claimed the title of Music Director to the New Millennium Orchestra, the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Highland Park Strings, Access Contemporary Music, and the Chicago Cultural Center Summer Opera. As a guest conductor, he has amassed several critically acclaimed productions with Chicago Opera Theater and has collaborated with many professional local orchestras. His work with the New Millennium Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater were each named to the Chicago Sun-Times list of the “10 best performances of the year.” Mr. Milioto is particularly proud of his work with the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, which he co-founded in 2005. The NMO had an incredible range of repertoire, playing everything from classical music and opera to collaborations with jazz and hip-hop artists. His highly acclaimed work over ten seasons with both the Highland Park Strings and Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra ranged from early music to contemporary works and often featured world-renowned soloists. As Artistic Director/Conductor of Access Contemporary Music, Mr. Milioto led the brilliantly vibrant ensemble Palomar which has been featured on the radio and in performances throughout the city and abroad. He has also conducted successful productions with The Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Southwest, Elgin Opera, and Opera on the James in Lynchburg Va.
As an assistant/cover conductor, Mr. Milioto flourished under world-class mentorship. As a member of the music staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2013, he has had the pleasure of working on many incredible productions and concerts with the likes of Sir Andrew Davis, Enrique Mazzola, Jakub Hrusa, Marco Armiliato, and Edward Gardner. He was also a member of the music staff at the Santa Fe Opera, the Bregenz Festival, the Canadian Opera Company, and The Dallas Opera. For over 10 years Mr. Milioto worked at the Ravinia Festival as an assistant conductor, prompter, pianist, and vocal coach, and was involved in over a dozen operas and countless concerts with such artists as James Conlon and Daniel Barenboim.
Mr. Milioto is a first generation Italian-Canadian and was born in Toronto. He began playing the piano at age seven and continued his early musical education at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario and a double Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting and Opera Repetition from McGill University.
