Initiated into conducting by Jacques Bodmer, Manlio Benzi graduated from the Boito Conservatoire of Parma in Composition with Camillo Togni (1989) and in Orchestral Conducting with Maestro Gatti (1990). He graduated with top marks and honours from the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at the University of Parma. A finalist in 1995 at the 1st International Conducting Competition “L. V. Matacic” in Zagreb, he was awarded a prize as best opera conductor. In the 1996/1997 season he was Music Director of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad; from 1997 to 1999 he was Associate Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica “G. Verdi” in Milan; from 2000 to 2007 he was Artistic and Music Director of the “Notti Malatestiane” Festival in Rimini.He has conducted around sixty opera titles in major international theatres, including the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opéra de Paris, Oslo Opera, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, Lincoln Center in New York, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Estonian National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Tbilisi State Opera, theatres in Erfurt and Essen, Opera North in England, Volksoper in Vienna, and Opera Ireland in Dublin.He has been a regular guest conductor at the Holland Park Festival in London, the Valle d’Itria Festival, the Macerata Opera Festival, and the Caracalla Festival. Active in the symphonic repertoire as well, he is regularly invited to conduct several orchestras in Italy and abroad, including the Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venice, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, Abruzzo Symphony Orchestra, “Cantelli” Orchestra of Milan, Orchestra Stabile di Como, Filarmonica Veneta, Filarmonica Marchigiana, and others. He has undertaken major tours with the Orchestra Sinfonica of Milan (in France and Switzerland) and with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano (at the International Festival of Brescia and Bergamo and in Austria, including a performance in the Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna). He made his debut at La Scala in Milan conducting two concerts with soloists from the Accademia della Scala. He has released several recordings (DVDs and CDs) for the Naxos label. He is the author of chamber and theatrical music, as well as several musicological essays and critical editions for Ricordi (Milan) and the Istituto di Studi Verdiani in Parma. Since December 1999 he has been Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Rossini Conservatoire of Pesaro.