A native of Florence, Italy, Mr. Ciabatti has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras across Europe and the Americas, including the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra (TX), Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra (GA), Park ICM Orchestra (MO), Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME), San Angelo Symphony Orchestra (TX), Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Festival Orchestra (Sweden), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Central (Colombia), and members of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Italy). In summer 2024, he was awarded the Joel Revzen Conducting Prize and engaged to conduct the Festival Orchestra Napa (CA). Next season, he will perform as a Music Director finalist with Symphony New Hampshire and the Plano Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Ciabatti has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Gabriel Cabezas, Ray Chen, Nathan Gunn, David Kim, Tommy Mesa, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Time for Three. An advocate for contemporary music, he commissioned a cello concerto by Noah Luna, which aired on NPR’s From the Top. He also promotes cross-genre collaborations, having premiered a secular oratorio by jazz composer Taylor Ho Bynum and hosted MacArthur Fellow Tomeka Reid for a performance of her cello concerto.
Mr. Ciabatti is the founding Artistic Director of Upper Valley Baroque, a professional orchestral and choral ensemble, which after its first five seasons has already received critical acclaim and regularly performs to sold-out houses. In 2025, he was the first-ever guest conductor to perform Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque, leading “a lithe and vital Messiah that felt rich, personal, and gloriously lived in” (The Arts Fuse). Next season, he’ll become the first Principal Guest Conductor in the ensemble’s history.
Equally at home in opera, Ciabatti is the Music Director of the Opera Company of Middlebury, where he made his debut with a production of Fidelio in June 2023. He has also conducted productions with Opera North (NH) and the Lyric Theatre at Illinois, including Tosca, Madama Butterfly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Don Giovanni (starring and directed by Nathan Gunn).
As Director of Orchestral and Choral Programs at the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, Mr. Ciabatti has spearheaded innovative, cross-disciplinary projects, collaborating with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Associazione Figli d’Arte Cuticchio, an award-winning Sicilian puppet company. In 2025, he led the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra on tour in Italy, performing Mahler’s First Symphony in major venues in collaboration with the Orchestra Toscana dei Conservatori.
Ciabatti is also an accomplished coach and collaborate pianist. He was on the faculty of Opera Viva! (Verona, Italy) for several seasons, and he joined the Seagle Festival (NY) faculty last summer. He has played for masterclasses with Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard, and William Matteuzzi,and has served as a vocal coach at institutions such as the Cherubini Conservatory, Florence Opera Academy, and Maggio Musicale Formazione.
Mr. Ciabatti holds advanced degrees in piano, choral conducting, and orchestral conducting from both Italy and the United States. In 2018, he was a Conducting Fellow at the Aurora Music Festival (Sweden) under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. He won The American Prize in Conducting (college/university division) in 2021. He resides in Vermont with his wife Francesca, their toddler Gianluca, and their cat Sofia.
