Alberto Triola
Alberto Triola is an artistic director, theater manager, opera stage director, and professor of performing arts management. Since 1990, he has held leading positions in theater and music institutions, building extensive expertise in both artistic and administrative fields.
He is Adjunct Professor of Performing Arts Management at the Universities of Bologna and Milan; he teaches Organization and Management of Musical Theater in the postgraduate Master in “Performance Management” at the University of Verona, and Organization of Artistic Production in the Master in “Artistic Planning and Management of Musical Production” at the University of Milan.
Among his most recent roles, he served as Superintendent and Artistic Director of the Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma (2018–2023) and as Artistic Director of the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca (2010–2021), where he also founded and directed the Rodolfo Celletti Belcanto Academy. From 2013 to 2017, he was General Director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino during a particularly complex phase for the institution, overseeing an extraordinary recovery plan, structural reorganization, and the relocation of production activities to its new headquarters.
Born in Milan in 1965, Triola graduated cum laude in Music and Performing Arts from the University of Milan, and also earned with honors a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan.
He began his professional career at Teatro alla Scala (1988–2002), where he held various production and organizational roles and collaborated with outstanding figures such as Alberto Zedda, Roman Vlad, and Riccardo Muti. Since 2002, he has served as artistic director of major Italian theaters and festivals, designing successful seasons that launched the careers of emerging talents and introduced internationally renowned directors to Italian audiences.
In 2002 he joined the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto as Artistic Secretary, and in 2003 was appointed Artistic Director of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, a role he held until 2007. During this period, he also directed the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona and the Monteverdi Festival.
From 2007 to 2011, he worked at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, first as Assistant to the Superintendent and Artistic Director, and later as founder and director of the Scuola dell’Opera Italiana, an innovative training program for young talents destined for international careers. He also served as artistic consultant for the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation (2010) and the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari (2011).
Since 2008, Triola has pursued a career as stage director, creating productions in Italy and abroad (Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Wexford Opera Festival, Stadttheater Lübeck, Theater an der Wien in Vienna, National Theatre in Belgrade). Particularly significant is his collaboration with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Salome and Eugene Onegin), culminating in 2024 with the lighting dramaturgy for Wagner’s Ring, conducted by Fabio Luisi.
He is the author of several publications, including Riccardo Muti alla Scala (Rizzoli) and Giulio Gatti Casazza, una vita per l’opera (Zecchini Editore). His Master’s thesis, La rappresentazione di uno spazio impossibile. Immaginare una “grande sala da concerti” a Milano (1871–1908), was awarded the 2024 Italian Society of Musicology Prize; it will appear in the “Percorsi” series by SIdM/Anthology Digital Publishing (2027). His forthcoming book, La macchina delle meraviglie: memoria e futuro dell’opera in musica, is currently in preparation.
Triola, who has also served as President of the Monopoli Conservatory (Bari), is regularly invited to international juries for vocal and musical competitions and leads workshops and laboratories at conservatories and opera studios worldwide. Since 2024, he has also taught Musical Dramaturgy applied to the operatic repertoire at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
On the occasion of the centenary of Maria Callas’s birth, the International Maria Callas Festival in Verona awarded him the Maria Callas Medal for “his exemplary work in artistic and managerial fields and his extraordinary dedication to the discovery and development of young artists.”
