Angelo Cavallaro was born on February 5, 1941 in Lucca Italy. His mother, Sophia Koumoutsou a Karpathian, was from the villages of Menetes and Piles. His father, Alessandro Cavallaro was of Italian origin.
He began his musical studies at the “Conservatorio Boccherini” of Lucca, and was granted his diploma in violin in 1963. Later he studied composition at the “Conservatorio Cherubini” in Florence under Carlo Prosperi, Roberto Lupi and Luigi Dallapiccola.
During this same period he specialized in conducting with Piero Bellugi, of the “Conservatorio Cherubini” in Florence, where in 1967 he was granted his diploma with full marks.
He obtained a scolarship to study orchestral technique in Venice and for a course in conducting and opera interpretation at the “Accademia Musicale Chigiana” in Siena. Later he worked with Bruno Maderna in various contemporary music performances at the “Teatro della Scala” in Milan.
He has conducted several important orchestras, among them the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra and the Greek Radio Orchestra. In Italy he has conducted the “Teatro Regio” Orchestra of Turin, the “Teatro Communale” orchestra of Bologna, the “Teatro Massimo” Orchestra of Cagliari, the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano, the RAI Rome and Naples Orchestras, the “Pomeriggi Musicali” Orchestra of Milan, the “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” Orchestra, and the Orchestra of Palazzo Pitti.
He was given a concert for Italian Television with the Rome Orchestra. For the centenary of the birth of Arnold Schonberg he inaugurated the serie of concerts devoted to him at the “Teatro della Scala” in Milan.
In France he was received by significant theatres, such as “The Great Theater of Bordeaux” in 1986, “The Opera Theater of Marseilles” in 1985/1986 and again, in the summer of 1990, for a new production of “Lucia”.
In 1987 he directed a successful edition of “Madame Butterfly” in Puerto Rico. The following year he inaugurated the “Athens Festival” at the “Erode Attico with a new production of “Maria Stuarda” by Donizetti. Later, in October 1991, he directed in Tokyo and Osaka a series of representations of “Rigoletto” with the Tokyo City Symphony Orchestra.
In 1996, at the “Opera Theater of Athens” he directed a new production of “Ernani”. He also directed two concerts with the “Philarmonic Orchestra of Montecarlo” and “Madame Butterfly” in Spain and another new production of “Aida” at the “Roman Arena of Avances” in Switzerland, where he returned this year to direct “La Boheme” which received great critical and popular acclaim.
In the winter of 1997 he inaugurated the season of the “Opera Theater” of Mexico City, with a new production of “Tosca”.
He was invited for the following year to direct a new production of “Il Trovatore”.
In October of 1997 he directed, with great success, a new production of “Otello” by Verdi, for theaters in Mantova, Jesi and Livorno.
In November 1997 he was invited to the Virginia Opera, in the United States, to direct a new production of “Elisir d’Amore”, which received great acclaim, both from the critics and from the public.
In 1999 he inaugurated the Athens Opera Theatre season with “Tosca”, he was then guest of the Stadt Theatre of Bern for a new production of “Lucia”, he directed a new production of “Turandot” with the Theatre of Maestranza of Seville and then a new production of “I Lombardi alla prima crociata” by Verdi at the new theatre Megaron Egaron in Athens of which a video was made which will soon be released.
In the spring of 2001 he directed a new production of “Il Trovatore” by Verdi at the Stadt Theatre in Bern and, the following year, he directed at the Theatre of the Maestranza of Seville “La Medium” of G. Menotti and at the Palacio de Festivales of Santander “Lucia di Lammermoor” of Donizzetti.
In September 2001 he directed “Macbeth” by Verdi at the Tivoli Festival of Copenhagen and later, with the Pergolesi Theatre in Jesi, he toured with a new production of “La Boheme” by G. Puccini. February of that same year he directed a new production of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at the Megaron Theatre in Athens with June Anderson, Ramon Vargas and Roberto Frontali. November of 2002 he directed a new production of “Madame Butterfly” produced by Lindsey Kemp in the theatre of Santander, Valencia, and Cordoba. The same production had been presented again in the summer of 2004 in the Madrid Festival “Verano in Villa”, and again in the New Theater Baluarte in Pamplona and in the Theater Villamarta of Jerez de la Frontera.
In Spain he directed the Sinfonica Orchestra of Cordoba, Orchestra Filarmonica of Bilbao, Orchestra Sinfonica of Malaga and Orchestra of Pablo Sarasate de Pamplona
In the winter of 2003 he directed a new production of Andrea Chenier in Stadt Theater of Bern and also that summer he participated in the “Classic Open Air” with the Berliner Sinphoniker Orchestra and with Marcelo Alvarez and Cristina Gallardo Domas, a very successful concert.
He was artistic director in the Pisa and Livorno theatres, and of the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. Since 1995 he works for the historic Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, which has become distingished in Italy for the quality of lirical productions and for a fortunate serie of rediscoveries of Italian operas from the ‘800s. These have had a great response in the musical world and the Bongiovanni recording studio has produced them on CD.
During this last year, he directed concerts in Hamburg, Berlin (Philharmonic), Hidelberg, Frankfurt (The Alter Opera) with the Nortwestdeutsche philarmonie and with famous tenor Marcelo Alvarez.
Lately he directed “Don Pasquale” in Chieti Theater and “Madama Butterfly” (a new production) in Stadt Theater of Bern.
In February 2007 he directed Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” in the new large theater of the Miami Grand Opera.
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a Karpathian, was from the villages of Menetes and Piles. His father, Alessandro Cavallaro was of Italian origin.
