Francesco Pasqualetti is an Italian conductor whose career spans major opera houses and concert venues across Italy, Europe and New Zealand. Born in Pisa in 1980, he studied piano and composition at the Conservatories of Lucca and Florence before pursuing advanced studies in conducting at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Gianluigi Gelmetti and at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Sir Colin Davis. He also graduated with honours in Philosophy from the University of Pisa. He is currently Professor of Score Reading at the “G. Puccini” Conservatory in La Spezia.

Pasqualetti has conducted at some of the most prestigious opera institutions in Italy and abroad, including Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Regio in Turin, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Cologne Opera and New Zealand Opera. His repertoire encompasses a wide range of Italian and international opera, from Rossini, Mozart, Donizetti and Verdi to Massenet, Boito and Puccini.

His recent and forthcoming engagements include Verdi’s Macbeth at the Como Festival, a series of symphonic concerts in Lübeck and Cologne, and, in October 2026, his debut at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa with Transitus, a new opera by Cristian Carrara. Among his recent highlights are Massenet’s Werther at Fondazione Arena di Verona and La Scala di Seta at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He conducted Massenet’s Werther also across a major Italian co-production involving the theatres of Como, Pavia, Brescia, Cremona, Modena, Ferrara, Reggio Emilia and Pisa. He has conducted Andrea Chénier for Opera Lombardia, Il barbiere di Siviglia in Pisa, Lucca and Jesi, Verdi’s Il trovatore in Trieste, and Ugo Nespolo’s new production of Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri in Pisa and Rovigo. He recently opened the seasons of the theatres of Modena and Piacenza with majestic Boito’s Mefistofele. His international career has taken him to New Zealand Opera, where he conducted Carmen in Auckland and Wellington, as well as La bohème, Gianni Schicchi and Madama Butterfly. In France, he has conducted the Orchestre National d’Auvergne in a Verdi Gala and appeared in the symphonic season of the Orchestre National d’Auvergne. He has also conducted at Cologne Opera, and in Lübeck, where his engagements have included Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cosi Fan Tutte and various symphonic concerts.

At the Verdi Festival in Parma, Pasqualetti made his debut with Un giorno di regno, conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Comunale di Bologna. The production attracted international critical attention, including coverage in The New York Times. He has also conducted Rossini’s monumental Mosè in Egitto in Pisa and Novara, in a production broadcast by RAI 5, and the Winland Christmas Gala Concert in Beijing, leading the China National Symphony Orchestra and National Chorus alongside an international cast. In 2017, Pasqualetti made his debut at the Opera di Firenze – Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Madama Butterfly, receiving enthusiastic acclaim.

Other operatic engagements include Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Teatro Regio di Torino; Rossini’s La scala di seta at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence;Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Stresa Festival with the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana; Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, La Scala di seta and Verdi’s La traviata for the Lombardy Opera Circuit; Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni at Teatro di Pisa; and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at Teatro di Sassari, at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He has also served as Visiting Professor of Italian Opera Repertoire at the National Opera Studio in London.

Alongside his operatic career, he is regularly invited to conduct symphonic programmes with ensembles including the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali, the ORT – Orchestra della Toscana, the BBC Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Teatro Regio di Torino, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino, the RNCM Symphony Orchestra of Manchester and I Virtuosi del Teatro alla Scala. He has collaborated with internationally acclaimed soloists including Boris Belkin, Bruno Canino, Maurizio Baglini, Davide Formisano, Luisa Prandina and Anna Tifu. Pasqualetti is also a published novelist. In 2022, Rizzoli published his first historical novel, La Regina della Notte, as part of the Rizzoli Historiae series. Set in the Europe of the late eighteenth century, the novel explores the intricate relationship between music and political power and received attention from major media outlets including Tg2, BBC History Magazine, RTL 102.5 and Libero.

His artistic and academic profile was further recognised when the Board of Governors of the Royal Academy of Music in London elected him an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an honour reserved for former Academy students who have distinguished themselves in the musical profession.