Italian conductor Pietro Billi studied conducting and piano at the Conservatorio "L. Cherubini" of Florence and at the prestigious Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. In addition, he has attended conducting masterclasses in Italy, Austria and Spain. He has conducted Il Trovatore both at the Teatro Comunale "L. Pavarotti" in Modena and the Teatro Verdi in Pisa. He has worked on a production of La Sonnambula at the Opéra de Lausanne, where he conducted the Orchestre the Chambre de Lausanne. He has also worked with the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, where he prepared the orchestra on the Leonard Bernstein's Second Symphony "The age of anxiety" that they performed with Krystian Zimerman. Mr. Billi has been an assistant conductor for the Sarasota Opera and the Florida Grand Opera in Miami for several productions, including Rigoletto, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and La Rondine, while he has served as the assistant conductor and Direttore musicale di palcoscenico of Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. He made his debut with As.Li.Co (Associazione Lirica e Concertistica Italiana) at the Teatro Sociale di Como conducting a new production of Verdi's Aida which was part of the Opera domani project, with over a hundred performances in 24 of the most important opera theatres of Italy. For three years in a row he has conducted the Orchestra Città di Ravenna for La Musica Lirica - Voci nel Montefeltro Festival, which brings young singers from all over the United States to Italy; after Falstaff, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, in 2019 he will conduct Le Nozze di Figaro. Mr. Billi has also conducted orchestras such as the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto (after winning the inaugural "Peter Maag" International Competition for young conductors), the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica "Città di Grosseto" in repertoire ranging from Bach to Stravinsky. He served as a vocal coach and professor of History of Italian opera and piano at the Florence University of the Arts, an institute for foreign students and has performed recitals with singers covering a wide range of repertoire from opera to Lieder. An avid promoter of musical culture, he has given many public lectures on various subjects. He also studied journalism and received a degree in Science of Communication at the School of Political Science at the University of Florence.