Cecilia
Ligorio

Cecilia Ligorio was born in Verona, Italy. She studied first at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts “Silvio d’Amico” and subsequently at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. Her artistic work encompasses stage direction, dramaturgy, language, and the relationship between music theatre and dance. As an actress, she has collaborated with, among others, Nobel Prize laureate Derek Walcott, P. Tosar, and R. Simó. Since 2005, she has worked in the field of opera with Spain’s Ensemble Nacional de Música Contemporánea, and since 2007 with the Palau de la Música in Valencia, where she has been actively involved in the “Music for Families” programme.

Among the operas she has directed are Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Porgy and Bess, Ruperto Chapí’s La Bruja, Il Re Pastore, L’elisir d’amore, Murder in the Cathedral, Otello, Baccanali, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, and Shi. She also worked as Associate Director to Alex Rigola on Madama Butterfly at Teatro La Fenice in Venice and to John Turturro on Rigoletto at Teatro Massimo Palermo, Teatro Regio Torino, and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.

In 2010, she co-founded the ensemble IfHuman together with Gaia Saitta at Les Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels. She performed in Fear and Desire and Yes, No, Maybe, assisted Gaia Saitta in the creation of Ne parlez pas d’Amour, and directed Manuel de Falla’s El Corregidor y la Molinera with Estrella Morente and under the musical direction of Sergio Alapont. She is also a member of Ludwig – Contemporary Language Workshop.

As a librettist, she has written several works, including Caravaggio Rubato (music by Giovanni Sollima) as well as Oltre la Porta and Shi (music by Carlo Boccadoro). Her recent directing projects include Puccini’s Turandot at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Spontini’s Fernand Cortez at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri for the Fondazione Rete Lirica delle Marche, and Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus at Teatro Malibran in Venice. At the Neuköllner Oper in Berlin, she directed Tanger Amor Mío and Haydar Tanzt.

In 2022, the Italian director made her German debut with the acclaimed production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Oper Köln, which was successfully revived during the 2025/26 season. In 2024/25, this was followed by her second production for Oper Köln, Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

In 2026, Cecilia Ligorio was awarded the prestigious Premio Abbiati of the Italian music critics as Best Director for her production of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Mitridate Eupatore at Teatro Massimo.

In the 2026/27 season, she continues her collaboration with Oper Köln by directing Hans Werner Henze’s La piccola Cubana, presented in celebration of the composer’s 100th birthday.