Francesco Zito

Francesco Zito studied Architecture in Florence and completed his training at the Slade School of Fine Art, University of London. He made his debut in 1977 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice with a ballet production choreographed by S. Bussotti, E. Polyakov and G. Vantaggio. He subsequently worked with stage director Jean-Louis Martinoty and, from 1988, the year of the inauguration of the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris with Federico García Lorca’s El público, began an extensive career as a set and costume designer. He has created sets and costumes for theatre and opera productions at institutions including the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opéra de Paris, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Among his notable projects is the set design for Rigoletto, staged by Mario Pontiggia, at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He has also collaborated with Carolyn Carlson, Graham Vick and Keita Asari, among others. At ABAO Bilbao Opera he has worked on La bohème and Tosca.