Ermanno Florio
Ermanno Florio is an Italian born American and Canadian orchestra conductor who has impressed both audiences and critics in the major centers of Europe, North and South America and Asia. As a symphony orchestra conductor, the extremely versatile Mr. Florio has well distinguished himself in genres of symphonic, operatic and balletic repertoire. He has shown a deep understanding of the art of ballet with a career spanning over forty years, during which time he has been the Music Director of several of the worlds most distinguished ballet companies including American Ballet Theater, the Dutch National Ballet, Houston Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada. He exhibits an unwavering dedication to music for dance, with an internationally established career as a leading figure in the realm of ballet conducting. He has a passion for the art form, and an ability to guide orchestras towards a harmonious synergy with the dancers.
Mr. Florio has led performances with the resident ballet companies at many of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Among them, the Metropolitan Opera House, Paris Opera - Garnier and Bastille Theaters, Vienna Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Berlin Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and the New National Theater in Tokyo. In addition, he has appeared with other internationally prominent ballet company including New York City Ballet, Swedish Royal Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, and Ballet of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
His extensive discography of video recordings include the award-winning performances of Don Quichotte with L’Orchestre de L’Opera National de Paris, which won the Cannes Classical Music Award for Best DVD in the category of Concert and Ballet Recordings, and “Le Corsaire” with ABT which won an EMMY for Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts. His other recordings include video releases of La Sylphide with the Paris Opera Ballet; The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Giselle with the Dutch National Ballet; and Onegin, “The Merry Widow, Alice, and La Ronde with the National Ballet of Canada.
Music that Mr. Florio has arranged include scores for Patrice Bart’s Tchaikovsky for the Finnish National Ballet, Das Flammende Hertz for Staatsballet Berlin, Gustaf III for the Royal Swedish Ballet and Elizabeth of Austria–Sissi for the Croatian National Ballet; Stanton Welch’s Marie Antoinette and La Bayadere for Houston Ballet; Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella for the Dutch National Ballet; Robert De Warren’s A Midsummer Nights Dream for Teatro alla Scala Ballet and Asami Maki’s La Dame aux Camelias for the New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo.
Mr. Florio attended the University of Toronto, where he focused on conducting at the suggestion of Sir Andrew Davis whose protege he became. After graduation, Mr. Florio participated in conducting courses at the Toho-Gakuen school in Tokyo, and was the recipient of numerous awards for study in Rome and Siena. Mr. Florio later studied with Franco Ferrara and Sergiu Celibidache.
Mr. Florio’s upcoming engagements for the 2025 and 2026 season include performances with Ballet Zürich, Houston Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Ballet del Teatro Colon, Ballet de l’Opera National de Bordeaux and the Vienna State Ballet.