Francesco Pasqualetti (born in Pisa, 1980) is an Italian conductor active in opera and symphonic repertoire. He graduated in piano and composition from the Conservatories of Lucca and Florence, and further refined his conducting skills at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Gianluigi Gelmetti and at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Sir Colin Davis. Alongside his musical education, he earned a degree cum laude in Philosophy from the University of Pisa. He is currently Professor of Lettura della Partitura at the Conservatory “G. Puccini” of La Spezia.

Pasqualetti has conducted in major Italian and international theatres, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Teatro La Fenice, the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Oper Köln, and the New Zealand Opera. Future engagements include his debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in October 2026, as well as operatic and symphonic projects with the I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra and OperaLombardia.

During the 2025 season, he conducted fourteen performances of Andrea Chénier  across OperaLombardia theatres (Como, Brescia, Pavia, and Cremona) and Il barbiere di Siviglia in Pisa, Lucca, Jesi, and Rovigo, collaborating with the Orchestra della Toscana, the Marchigiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Filarmonia Veneta Regional Orchestra. During the same season, he was called at short notice to conduct Così fan tutte with I Pomeriggi Musicali in Brescia and Como.

Highlights of the 2024 season include his debut at the Fondazione Arena di Verona with Massenet’s Werther and the inauguration of the seasons of the Teatri di Modena and Piacenza with Boito’s Mefistofele. He subsequently completed an extensive and highly successful tour of Werther, a co-production involving the theatres of Modena, Ferrara, Reggio Emilia, Como, Pavia, Brescia, Cremona, and Pisa, collaborating with I Pomeriggi Musicali and the FOI – Filarmonica dell’Opera Italiana “Bruno Bartoletti”.

In 2019, Pasqualetti collaborated in the creation of the Tsinandali Festival, conducting the newly founded Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra in a wide-ranging repertoire including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9.

Earlier milestones include new productions of Il trovatore at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and Ugo Nespolo’s staging of L’italiana in Algeri in Pisa and Rovigo (2018), Il barbiere di Siviglia in Lübeck, and a Verdian Gala at the Opéra de Vichy with the Orchestre National d’Auvergne. He made his debut at the Festival Verdi in Parma with Un giorno di regno, conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, an engagement that drew international critical attention, including a review in The New York Times. The same year saw his performances of Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto in Pisa and Novara (broadcast by RAI 5) and the Winland Christmas Gala Concert in Beijing with the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

In 2017, Pasqualetti debuted at the Opera di Firenze – Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Madama Butterfly and returned to New Zealand to conduct Carmen in Auckland and Wellington. In the same year, he also conducted Il cappello di paglia di Firenze by Nino Rota for LTL Opera Studio in Pisa, Lucca, and Livorno, with the OGI – Orchestra Giovanile Italiana.

The 2015/2016 season marked several important debuts, including at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice with Rossini’s La scala di seta, in the symphonic season of the Orchestre National d’Auvergne in France, at the Köln Opera House with Così fan tutte, and at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Verdi’s Macbeth. In the same period, he returned to the theatres of Pisa and Lucca with Mefistofele and to the theatres of Como and Pavia with Così fan tutte for OperaLombardia.

His repertoire further includes productions at the Teatro Regio di Torino (Il matrimonio segreto and Die Zauberflöte), the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (La scala di seta), the he Stresa Festival (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Ravenna and Novara Opera (L’italiana in Algeri, La traviata, La Scala di seta) the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Teatro di Sassari, and the RNCM in Manchester (Elisri d’Amore) il Teatro Sociale di Trento and Pisa (Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro). He has also served as visiting professor for Italian opera repertoire at the National Opera Studio in London.

In the symphonic field, he has appeared on the podium of ensembles such as I Pomeriggi Musicali, the ORT – Orchestra Regionale Toscana, the BBC Philharmonic, the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, the Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino, the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, and I Virtuosi del Teatro alla Scala, collaborating with distinguished soloists including Boris Belkin, Bruno Canino, Maurizio Baglini, Davide Formisano, Luisa Prandina, and Anna Tifu.

In February 2022, he published his first historical novel, La Regina della Notte (Rizzoli Historiae), based on an original and unprecedented interweaving of music and power in late eighteenth-century Europe. The book attracted the attention of major press and broadcast media, including RAI-Tg2, BBC History Magazine, RTL 102.5 radio, Libero, and several others.

The Board of Governors of the Royal Academy of Music in London has elected Francesco Pasqualetti an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an honor reserved for former students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves at an exceptional level in the international musical profession.

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