Described by Opera Magazine as an “astonishing sopranista” with a “svelte, bright voice” and “fluent coloratura,” Federico Fiorio is rapidly gaining international attention as an outstanding male soprano, performing on many of the world’s leading stages.

In the 2024/25 season, he makes his much-anticipated Salzburg Festival debut as Sesto in a new production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. He also appeared at La Monnaie in Brussels in I Grotteschi, a new twofold performance based on Monteverdi’s Trilogy. Other engagements included a recital at the Handel Festival in Halle, a return to the Valletta Early Opera Festival in Il Re Pastore (Aminta), and a tour of Italian theatres (Ravenna, Modena, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Lucca) as Sesto in a new staging of Giulio Cesare.

Career highlights include Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea (Cremona, Ravenna, Como, Pavia, and Pisa), Bellezza in Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at the Opéra de Lausanne, Pulgar in the world premiere of Alberto Carretero’s La Bella Susona at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and Ópera de Tenerife, Aquilio in Graun’s Adriano in Siria at the Aalto-Theater in Essen and the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, and Amanzio in Vivaldi’s Giustino at the Drottningholm Opera Festival.

Further notable performances include Bach’s Mass in B minor at the MITO Festival and the countertenor part in Carmina Burana at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, where he also took part in the world premiere of Gaetano Manna’s La Cantata di San Gennaro. Federico has frequently collaborated with Ottavio Dantone, appearing as Andronico in Vivaldi’s Tamerlano, Lepido in Giacomelli’s Cesare in Egitto at the Innsbruck Festival, and Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina at the Seine Musicale in Paris, to mention just a few.

Born in Verona, Federico Fiorio studied with Lia Serafini and Patrizia Vaccari, graduating with honors from both the F. A. Bonporti Conservatory and the Parma Arrigo Boito Conservatory. He also trained with Roberta Invernizzi at the Giuseppe Gherardeschi International Academy for Organ and Early Music in Pistoia.

He began his musical path as a child soprano in a choir in Verona and has since maintained his soprano voice. In 2013, he recorded the album Come voce antica risuonano fili di luce with harpist Marina Bonetti. At just 16, he made his debut as a male soprano soloist in the roles of Enea and Iarba in a pasticcio at the Teatro Ristori in Verona, followed by appearances as Erster Knabe in Die Zauberflöte at the Teatro Filarmonico and as Lidio in Albinoni’s Zenobia, regina de’ Palmireni at the Teatro Malibran in Venice.

Federico has worked with distinguished conductors such as Leonardo García Alarcón, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, Gabriele Ferro, Carlo Ipata, Dorothee Oberlinger, George Petrou, Giulio Prandi, Federico Maria Sardelli, Jordi Savall, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Stage directors he has collaborated with include Lorenzo Amato, Fabio Ceresa, Leo Muscato, Chiara Muti, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Enrico Stinchelli, and Rafael R. Villalobos.

In 2024, Federico Fiorio co-founded the Karalis Antiqua Ensemble. Serving as artistic director and maestro concertatore, he leads the ensemble in its mission to rediscover and promote Renaissance and Baroque music traditions across Europe.

June 2025

[Photo: Matthias Baus]