Marcello Cormio
Music Director
Conductor, Symphony & Concert Orchestras
Italian conductor Marcello Cormio begins his tenth season as CKYO’s Music Director.
Throughout his career, he has distinguished himself for his energetic style and engaging persona on the podium, and refined musical approach to the score. His work ranges from operatic and symphonic conducting to coaching singers to education at all levels.
He just had his debut at Central City Opera this summer, leading a very successful production of The Marriage of Figaro.
In 2025 he returned to Sarasota Opera to conduct The Barber of Seville, and in recent years he had professional debuts at Tri-Cities and Syracuse Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra, and the Manhattan School of Music.
The South Florida Classical praised him as "an assured hand in the pit, conducting the score with vitality while leaving the singers room to breathe in their solos…the young Italian drew vital and spirited playing, with the fizzing ensemble exciting, yet with a fine balancing of solo voices, chorus and orchestra.”
As a symphonic conductor, Cormio has been recently named Music Director of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared with orchestras around the United States and Europe, including the San Antonio Symphony, the Orchestra della Società dei Concerti di Bari, the Bacau Symphony, and the Orchestra Sinfonica della Città Metropolitana di Bari.
Cormio’s commitment to education has been constant and all-encompassing throughout his career. He devotes the majority of his time and energies to his work as Music Director of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, sharing his inexhaustible passion for music with hundreds of young talents every year and contributing to building the future generations of orchestra musicians. He has also been on the faculty of the University of Kentucky as Director of the University of Kentucky Philharmonia Orchestra for five years.
In the educational realm, he has been active as an opera conductor and coach throughout his career, both at academic institutions and in summer music festivals. He has led productions of L’elisir d’amore, Così fan tutte and A Room with a View at the Michigan State University, and Street Scene at the West Virginia University.
Cormio is sought after as a faculty at summer opera festivals, such the Savannah Voice Festival (Hansel and Gretel), the Bay View Music Festival (Die Zauberflöte), La Musica Lirica (La Traviata), Opera do Recife (Brazil), Prague Summer Nights (Czech Republic), Classic Lyric Arts - Berkshires. He was also the Artistic Director of the Opera Lucca Festival in Lucca, Italy, for three editions.
Cormio holds graduate degrees in piano, composition, conducting, and musicology from Italian conservatories and universities, as well as a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky.