John Massaro

John Massaro is the Principal Conductor of the Phoenix Opera, where he has led acclaimed productions of major operas and conducted gala performances featuring world-renowned artists Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Jonas Kaufmann.

An award-winning composer, Mr. Massaro recently completed his second opera, The Seven Sisters, written for university opera programs. Excerpts from his first opera, Isabella, can be heard at lyricalopera.com.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Massaro served as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein during the creation of A Quiet Place and to Zubin Mehta for the Israel Philharmonic’s production of Madama Butterfly in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. He also worked extensively with legendary German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, coaching both opera and art song repertoire.

Mr. Massaro made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting Mozart’s Requiem, followed by a distinguished European tour to Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Salzburg, and Vienna, where he conducted additional Mozart works in celebration of the composer’s 250th anniversary.

In 2023, he made his Italian conducting debut with Rossini’s La Cenerentola for FIO Italia, returning later to conduct Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites and Puccini’s La Bohème. He is scheduled to conduct Madama Butterfly in Italy this summer.

Mr. Massaro’s debut with the Phoenix Symphony came in 2002 with a 9/11 memorial concert that included his own arrangement of the National Anthem. He has also served as Music Director for the Phoenix Theatre and the Black Theatre Troupe (BTT), earning an AriZoni Award for BTT’s production of Blues in the Night.

As the founding Music Director of the Arizona Broadway Theatre, Mr. Massaro conducted numerous stage productions, including Anything Goes, Man of La Mancha, Damn Yankees, HMS Pinafore, The World Goes Round, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and South Pacific, receiving multiple awards for his work there.