The Choir

The Verdi Theatre permanent Choir is inextricably linked to the opera house’s production. It is divided into the eight registers of first and second sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, altos, first and second tenors, baritones and basses. It has always stood out for uniformity and vigor. The Choir has been conducted since the end of the II world war by choir masters of the caliber of Roberto Benaglio, Adolfo Fanfani, Giorgio Kirschner, Gaetano Riccitelli, Andrea Giorgi, Ine Meisters, Marcel Seminara, Luigi Petrozziello, Emanuela di Pietro, Lorenzo Fratini, Alessandro Zuppardo, Paolo Vero and Fulvio Fogliazza, whilst intensifying its involvement in the area of symphonic music over the past years. 

Universally acknowledged by critics as one of the best choirs in Italian opera houses, even for the capacity expressed in singing the lyric-symphonic repertoire in the original language of non-national authors, it has been invited to perform not only in Italy (in particular as a long-time featured guest at the Festival of the Two Worlds in Spoleto), but also abroad, in Austria, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Korea, Japan and Oman both on its own or on tour together with the Verdi Theatre Orchestra. In 2016 it has opened the Dubai Opera with the operas The pearl fishers and The barber of Seville, two productions set by the Foundation itself.

The current choirmaster is Paolo Longo.

The choir

The Chorus Master

Paolo Longo

After a ten-year collaboration with the Teatro Verdi, in 1998 he moved to France where he held the position of Chef de Chant and Chef assistant at the Opéra National de Lyon, at the Théâtre du Châtelet and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris .

During his career he has had the opportunity to assist and collaborate with conductors such as R. Abbado, P. Boulez, B. Campanella, W. Christie, V. Fedoseyev, J. E. Gardiner, G. Gavazzeni, D. Harding, B Kontarsky, G. Korsten, P. Maag, K. Nagano, S. Ozawa, M. Plasson, G. Prêtre, D. Robertson, E. P. Salonen, N. Santi, composers such as B. Bettinelli, A. Clementi, A. Corghi, Tan Dun, P. Dusapin, H. W. Henze, M. Levinas, G. Manzoni, G. Morricone, F. Pennisi, and many others.

He has conducted numerous concerts and opera productions in France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Uzbekistan, and has recorded for the Rainbow Classics, Tactus, Phoenix Classics, Chromas, Taukay labels. A staunch supporter of the contemporary repertoire, he has conducted and curated the first performances of more than 150 pieces by various Italian and foreign composers. A composer himself, he has received more than 30 prizes in important international competitions (Grieg Competition in Oslo, Prix Reine Marie José in Geneva, ISCM in Miami, Renée B. Fisher in New Haven, Bucchi Prize in Rome, Académie de Lutèce in Paris, Salvatore Martirano in Chicago); his music is performed and broadcast internationally, and has been the subject of seminars and in-depth internships in various countries.

In 2007 he was appointed Stage Music Director at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, for which he directed several concerts dedicated to twentieth-century and contemporary music, as well as some opera and ballet productions.