Marco Zambelli was born in Genoa in 1960. He began studying piano at the age of seven and entered the Conservatorio “Niccolò Paganini” before completing his classical education. After graduating in Organ in 1983, he continued his studies with Lionel Rogg at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève, where he was awarded the Premier Prix de Virtuosité in 1986. In the same year he received the Second Prize at the International Organ Competition of Kaltern. Until 1988 he pursued an active career as an organist, chamber musician and continuo player, performing both as a soloist and in collaboration with instrumentalists and singers.
In 1989 he joined the Opéra de Lyon as a permanent member of the artistic staff, an experience that marked the beginning of his professional life in opera. Starting as Chorus Master and later serving as Directeur des Études Musicales, he became involved in every stage of operatic production, from chorus preparation and vocal coaching to musical rehearsals and artistic coordination. During these formative years he worked alongside conductors including Maurizio Arena, Bruno Campanella, Emmanuel Krivine, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Conducting emerged naturally from this immersion in the operatic world, as the continuation of an already comprehensive artistic journey.
Since his conducting debut in 1994, Marco Zambelli has developed an international career centred on opera while maintaining an extensive symphonic and sacred choral repertoire. His engagements have taken him to opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe and beyond, working with ensembles such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Prague Philharmonia, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, among others. He has collaborated with outstanding artists including Julian Lloyd Webber, Laurent Korcia, Pieter Wispelwey, Kirill Gerstein, Leo Nucci, Gregory Kunde, Rolando Villazón, Charles Castronovo, Sumi Jo, Jennifer Larmore and Ermonela Jaho, appearing at venues including the Philharmonie Halls in Berlin, Munich and Cologne, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Israel Festival, Glyndebourne and many of Europe’s leading opera houses.
His artistic activity is also reflected in a number of recordings for the BBC, Czech Television, Virgin Classics and RTÉ lyric fm/Naxos. Among them, the live recording of the first public performance since 1838 of Michael William Balfe’s Falstaff, recorded in Dublin, received outstanding international critical acclaim for helping to bring a long-forgotten work back to the repertoire. Other recordings include orchestral recitals with Gregory Kunde and Irish soprano Céline Byrne.
Alongside his international career, Marco Zambelli founded and directed I Concerti Spirituali del Gonfalone in Genoa, a six-season concert series bringing together professional musicians, young performers and a very fine amateur choir in a shared artistic project rooted in continuity, education and community engagement. Conceived as more than a concert series, it reflected his conviction that musical excellence grows through shared responsibility and long-term artistic collaboration. While continuing his conducting career, he remains committed to projects that combine artistic excellence, education, cultural participation and the development of enduring musical communities.