Recently appointed as new Music Director at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, Italian conductor Carlo Montanaro was discovered by Zubin Mehta, who recommended him to the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, where he improved his skills under Leopold Hager, Erwin Acél and Yugi Yuasa for three years.

Since 2001, Montanaro has conducted opera and concerts in major venues including the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Fondazione Arena in Verona, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Parma and Teatro Verdi in Trieste, a collaboration which led to a Japanese tour with the orchestra. Performances included Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Aida, Tosca, La Sonnambula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly and La Bohème.

He conducted two works in the 2004-2005 season at Teatro Comunale in Florence, as well as various symphonic concerts with the Fondazione Arena Verona and with the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, with the Teatro Cilea of Reggio Calabria, and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He conducted Il Trovatore at the State Opera of Stuttgart, as well as Barbiere di  Siviglia with the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini.

Other engagements of high prestige include a great public and critical success conducting Un Ballo in Maschera with the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv (new production), his American debut in Colorado with Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Dialoghi delle Carmelitane in Bilbao to great critical acclaim, and Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

He also made his debut at La Scala with La Traviata, and he opened the Macerata Summer Festival with Carmen under the direction of Dante Ferretti. He conducted Il corsaro at the Festival Verdi in Parma and made his debut at Hercules Halle in Munich in a concert with the Weimar Staatskapelle and Erwin Schrott.

He conducted Madama Butterfly at New National Theatre in Tokyo, and he returned to Opera Colorado in Denver to conduct Così fan tutte.

His engagement conducting Simone Boccanegra at Megaron in Athens (new production) was wildly successful and he was also invited to conduct Aida. He opened Canadian Opera season 2009/10 conducting Madama Butterfly, he conducted Romeo and Juliet at La Fenice in Venice, and he obtained great success in Frankfurt with Mefistofele and in Graz with Verdi’s Requiem. He conducted Romeo and Juliette in Verona, La Traviata in Munich and Aida in Hamburg with great reviews from public and critics.

He debuted with Carmen in Dresden to great success, and he was immediately invited to conduct in the future Il barbiere di Siviglia and a new production of Un ballo in maschera.

He then conducted Don Quichotte in Seattle, as well as a new production of Turandot in Warsaw, Lucia di Lammermoor in Bilbao, Il barbiere di Siviglia and a new production of Un ballo in maschera in Dresden with great reviews from public and critics,   Aida    in Hamburg, La bohème  at Teatro Comunale di Fi renze,  Attila  at Se attle Opera, L’Amico Fritz and a new pr oduction of Adriana Lecouvreur in Frankf  urt, Manon Lescaut, Turandot and Macbeth in Hamburg, La Traviata in Warsaw and in Cincinnati.

Most recently, he returned to Musikverein in Graz to conduct a concert version of Verdi’s Giovanna D’Arco, and he conducted Falstaff in Hamburg, Tosca in Munich, Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Tokyo, Don Carlos, Verdi's Requiem and Turandot in Warsaw, La Bohème in Seattle, Don Carlo in Frankfurt, Il Corsaro in Budapest.

Future engagements include: Il Console in Seattle, Carmen, Tosca, Elisir d’amore and La Traviata in Munich,  Madama Butterfly  and a new production of Fanciulla del West  in Hamburg, Tosca at Paris-Bastille, Elisir d'Amore in Florence, Madama Butterfly in Nagoya, Norma at the Festival in Peralada, La Traviata in Oviedo.