Appointed in 2015 as Opera Colorado’s first-ever music director, conductor ARI PELTO’s “breathtaking wizardry in the pit” (The Denver Post) has been widely celebrated, with Pelto in demand at opera houses and concert halls throughout the United States.

At the age of 24, Pelto was appointed Assistant Conductor at the Spoleto Festival and he has since gone on to conduct worldwide. International engagements include performances with Bochumer Philharmoniker and opera productions at New National Theatre of Tokyo and the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador.

In 2004 he made his highly-praised debut with New York City Opera, conducting La Traviata, after which he became a regular, returning for productions of Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, and Carmen

Besides his many conducting assignments for Opera Colarado, recent successes include a new production of Eugene Onegin at Atlanta Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Lucia di Lammermoor at Virginia Opera, and La Voix Humaine at Chicago Opera Theater. Also Salome and Lucia Di Lammermoor at Virginia Opera, a new Nutcracker and Carmina Burana at Atlanta Ballet, L’enfant et les Sortileges at Chicago College of Performing Arts, Aida at Utah Symphony and Opera, a double bill of La Voix Humaine, starring Patricia Racette, and Gianni Schicchi at Chicago Opera Theater.

Other engagements include A Streetcar named Desire at Virginia Opera, The Rake’s Progress at Portland Opera, and Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Don Giovanni at Opera Memphis, La Boheme at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, The Cunning Little Vixen at Chautauqua, Rusalka and La Boheme at Boston Lyric Opera, Romeo et Juliette at Minnesota Opera, The Magic Flute, Le Nozze di Figaro and Hansel and Gretel at Portland Opera and Hansel and Gretel at Utah Opera.

He has conducted a variety of symphonic programs with orchestras in the US, including The Omaha Symphony and the NYU Symphony.

Ari Pelto is committed to working with young talent, and he will be coaching young singers in Astoria, leading scenes from Mozart operas from rehearsal to performance.