Parisi was born in Milan and studied at the
Milan Conservatory—piano with Carla Giudici and , composition with
Azio Corghi and , and conducting with Mario Gusella and
Gianluigi Gelmetti. He was also Gianluigi Gelmetti's assistant for several years and attended a masterclass in the Netherlands with the Russian conductor
Kirill Kondrashin. Following his debut at the
Teatro Petruzzelli in
Bari in 1979, went on to an international career conducting both operas and orchestral concerts in major concert halls and opera houses. He has conducted many premieres by contemporary composers, most importantly his collaborations
Luciano Berio and
John Cage. He has also conducted the first performances in modern times of works such as the American version of ''L'ape musicale'' by
Lorenzo Da Ponte, the first staged performances of
Gian Francesco Malipiero's ''Il sogno di un tramonto d'autunno'', the first revival of
Kurt Weill's
Marie Galante, and the first live performance of the
radio opera Don Perlimplin by
Bruno Maderna. He has served as the Principal Conductor of
Angelicum Orchestra in Milan (1984–88), Associate Conductor of the Filarmonica del Conservatorio di Milano (2000–2003) and artistic director and Principal Conductor of
I Solisti Aquilani in
L'Aquila (2003–2005). In the contemporary music field he has been the artistic director and Principal Conductor of the
Dedalo Ensemble in
Brescia since 1995. He has recorded for many labels, including Naxos, Dynamic, Bongiovanni, La Nuova Era, and Stradivarius. His performance of the
New World Symphony by
Dvorak with the
Auckland Philharmonia was chosen as New Zealand Radio's first classical podcast. Parisi is Head of conducting department at the Milan Conservatory where he has taught conducting since 1997. Vittorio Parisi lives in Brescia, Italy. ==Discography==