Canadian orchestra conductor (born 1954)
Ermanno Florio
Born (1954-03-29 ) March 29, 1954 (age 70) Occupation Conductor
Ermanno Florio (born March 29, 1954) is an Italian-born Canadian orchestra conductor. He was music director of
Houston Ballet from 1992 to 2024
[1] , and has previously held similar posts at
American Ballet Theatre ,
Dutch National Ballet , and the
National Ballet of Canada . A prolific recording artist, Florio has received honors and awards including an
Emmy Award and a Cannes Classical Music Award. He is especially associated with conducting and arranging music for dance and is among the world's leading conductors for ballet.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Early life and education
Florio was born in
Carapelle Calvisio , Italy, on March 29, 1954, and moved to
Toronto , Canada, with his parents in 1956.
[5]
From 1966 to 1973, he attended the
Royal Conservatory of Music , during which time he was a violinist with the
National Youth Orchestra of Canada and Canadian Chamber Orchestra. He later studied under
Victor Martin at the
University of Toronto Faculty of Music , from which he received a
Bachelor of Music in violin performance. Following graduation, he studied conducting at the
Toho Gakuen School of Music , and participated in the
Ontario Arts Council 's conducting program. In 1978, with the support and guidance of
Sir Andrew Davis , he also studied with
Franco Ferrara in Siena, Italy, before becoming the first apprentice conductor with the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra .
[5]
[6]
[7] He later attended courses with
Sergiu Celibidache in Madrid, London, and Munich and during the 1982 and 1983 concert seasons, attended rehearsals and performances of the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as a resident of Amsterdam.
[8]
Florio received awards for study at the
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the
Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.
[9]
Career
Canada
Following a year as apprentice conductor of the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra , Florio became conductor of the
Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1979 to 1986 and music director of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1995. During this time, he also guest conducted other major Canadian orchestras, including the
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra ,
National Arts Centre Orchestra , and
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra . In 1990 he conducted
Madama Butterfly at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
[10] In 1985, he took his first role as a ballet conductor when
Erik Bruhn invited him to become music administrator and principal conductor of the
National Ballet of Canada ; he held the position until 1990.
[5]
[7]
[11]
Europe
In 1990, Florio made his conducting debut at
Teatro alla Scala , where he also arranged the music for
Robert de Warren 's La Scala Ballet's production of
A Midsummer Night's Dream .
[12] For the 1990-91 season, Florio worked with
Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet conducting
Sir Peter Wright 's
Swan Lake at the
Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and on an English tour.
[13]
[14]
After completing the 1991 season, Florio was a guest conductor with multiple orchestras and ballet companies in Europe.
[5] Between 1990 and 2010, he conducted seven productions at
Teatro alla Scala
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18] and ten at
l'Opéra National de Paris from 1994 to 2017.
[19] He was a regular guest conductor at the
Grand Théâtre de Genève from 1992 to 1996,
[20]
[21]
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma from 1996 to 2002,
[22]
Opéra National de Bordeaux from 1997 to 2017,
[23] and
Vienna State Opera from 2011 to 2020.
[24]
[25]
[26]
In 2004, the video recording of l'
Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris 's Don Quixote , which Florio conducted, won the Cannes Classical Music Award for Best DVD in the category of Concert and Ballet Recordings.
[5]
[27]
From 2004 to 2012, Florio served as music director for the
Dutch National Ballet and since then has been a regular guest conductor with the company.
[28]
From 1995 to 1997 Florio conducted three productions for the
Norwegian National Ballet .
[29] He guest-conducted the
Finnish National Ballet in 2005
[30] and the
Royal Swedish Ballet in 2008.
[31]
Japan
From 2003 to 2010, Florio was a regular guest conductor with the
New National Theatre Ballet in Tokyo.
[32] During that time, he collaborated on their world premieres of
Raymonda
[33] and La Dame aux Camélias .
[34] Florio also arranged the score of "La Dames aux Camélias" for Asami Maki's production.
[35]
United States
From 1992 to 2024
[36] , Florio served as the music director for the
Houston Ballet ,
[5] during which time he has conducted multiple world premieres, as well as the company's standard repertoire.
[37]
From 1998 to 2001, Florio was also the music director for the
American Ballet Theatre in New York City.
[37] He performed many times with the company at the
Metropolitan Opera House and on their many international tours.
[38]
[39] In 1998 his recording with the company of
Le Corsaire won an
Emmy for Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts.
[37]
Video and CD recordings
Don Quichotte with the
Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris
La Sylphide with the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris
Le Corsaire with
American Ballet Theatre
The Sleeping Beauty with
Dutch National Ballet
The Nutcracker with Dutch National Ballet
Cinderella with Dutch National Ballet
Onegin with the
National Ballet of Canada
The Merry Widow with the National Ballet of Canada
Alice with the National Ballet of Canada
La Ronde with the National Ballet of Canada
Giselle – Pathé's worldwide cinema release with Dutch National Ballet
Dracula – Seattlemusic
Louis Vierne – L'Ouvre d'Orgue Intégrale –
Holland Symfonia
Music arrangements
Florio's music arrangements for full length story ballets include scores for:
Awards
1977 – Finalist Rupert BBC Conducting Competition
1998 Le Corsaire –
American Ballet Theatre – Emmy for Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts
[5]
1980 Prize Winner, Gino Marinuzzi Conducting Competition, San Remo, Italy
2004 Don Quixote –
Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris – Cannes Classical Music Award for Best DVD in the category of Concert and Ballet Recordings
[5]
[37]
Personal life
Florio is married to Franca Kathryn Santamaura. He has a daughter, Cassandra Florio from a previous marriage, and two grandchildren.
[45]
References
^
"Ermanno Florio Celebrates Final Season as Houston Ballet's longtime Music Director, Musicians Pay Tribute" . Houston Arts Journal . June 23, 2023.
^ Ward, Charles (August 22, 2008).
"At the baton: Ermanno Florio" . Chron . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Conductor Ming Luke Assembles Major Players in the Ballet Industry for New Chat Series" . PR.com . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Richard Robbins : Lyric Opera of the North" . loonopera.org . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
a
b
c
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f
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The Canadian Encyclopedia . December 13, 2013.
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^ Ford, Clifford; Beckwith, John (March 4, 2015).
"Toronto Symphony Orchestra" .
The Canadian Encyclopedia .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
a
b
"n.b. What's New and What's Happening ... People, Performances and Exhibits" (PDF) . Dance in Canada Magazine (45): 37. Fall 1985.
Archived (PDF) from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
De Dirigent – Ermanno Florio on
YouTube Retrieved 2023-12-28 .
^ Walker, Morley (March 6, 1981).
"Playing second fiddle to Yehudi Menuhin" .
Winnipeg Sun . p. 17. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^ Siskind, Jacob (September 7, 1990).
"Butterfly makes pleasurable flight" .
Ottawa Citizen . p. 60. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio – Niagara Symphony Orchestra" .
Brock University Library .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Sogno Di Una Notte Di Mezza Estate" . Google Arts & Culture .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^ Thorpe, Edward (March 19, 1991).
"Sweet sensation" .
Evening Standard . p. 45. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^ Crowson, Tina (February 21, 1991).
"Sumptuous style at the ballet" .
Herald Express . Torquay, Devon, England. p. 5. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Risultato" . www.teatroallascala.org (in Italian). Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Opera (with Opera News) – April 1990" . reader.exacteditions.com . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"ArcipelagoMilano | sipario – Le "Spose Eterne" Nella Bayadère Dell'het Nationale Ballet" (in Italian). Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^ Redazione (December 7, 2007).
"Stagione Lirica e di Balletto 2007–08 al Teatro alla Scala di Milano" . NonSoloCinema (in Italian). Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio" . Les Archives du Spectacle (in French). March 29, 1954. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Barry Guy, compositeur – SMC Lausanne" . www.smclausanne.ch . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Compositions by Rhys Chatham" . www.rhyschatham.net . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio | Archivio Storico del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma" . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio | Opéra National de Bordeaux" . www.opera-bordeaux.com . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Onegin " . upstream.wiener-staatsoper.at (in German).
Vienna State Opera . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Wien/ Staatsoper: Manon – Staatsballett – "hin- und hergerissen" " . Online Merker (in German). Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Wiener Staatsballett : Don Quixote (Rudolf Nurejew) in der Staatsoper am 28. 02. 2011" . www.forum-dansomanie.net . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"동호회" . Go! Classic .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio | Nationale Opera & Ballet" . www.operaballet.nl . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio" . sceneweb.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
" "Tchaikovsky" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Choreography" . Galerie Roger-Viollet . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Intriger, fester, konspiratörer i Gustav III – Dansportalen" . www.dansportalen.se (in Swedish). December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Don Quixote " . www.nntt.jac.go.jp . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Raymonda " . www.nntt.jac.go.jp . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"Maki Asami completes her seasons as artistic director" . www.nntt.jac.go.jp . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
a
b
"Maki Asami's LA Dame Aux Camélias " .
New National Theatre Tokyo .
Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Ermanno Florio Celebrates Final Season as Houston Ballet's Longtime Music Director, Musicians Pay Tribute" . Houston Arts Journal . June 23, 2023.
^
a
b
c
d
"Ermanno Florio" .
Houston Ballet .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^ Ulrich, Allan (June 25, 1998).
"Hot-ticket Snow Maiden leaves one cold" .
San Francisco Examiner . p. 62. Retrieved December 28, 2023 .
^
"American Ballet Theatre dances Anastasia for the first time" .
The Reporter . June 6, 1999. p. 15. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Roger-Viollet" . Roger-Viollet .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Wie tanzt man Atheismus?" . Klassik .
Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Intriger, fester, konspiratörer i Gustav III " . Dansportalen (in Swedish). December 21, 2023.
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Empress Elizabeth of Austria – Sissi" . HNK .
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^
"Marie : Houston Ballet's homage to Marie Antoinette, France's final queen" . Wise Music Classical . June 13, 2019.
Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023 .
^ Glentzer, Molly (December 3, 2018).
"Ballet's Jubilee was a night of wine and roses" . Chron . Retrieved December 28, 2023 .