Check Out Elisabetta Russo’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabetta Russo.

Hi Elisabetta, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
It all started before I could even talk. At 3 years old I was selected to sing in a famous Italian children’s choir. The choir was far from where my family lived, and my father thought I was too young and, so, I should not go, so I had to wait a few more years to officially start. And yet, I sang and sang. Singing made me happy, this is what my family tells me.

When I grew up enough to join a group, at 11, I started singing for a pop band. It was around that time that I fell in love with classical music. My father had brought home a CD with Aida, a beautiful opera by Verdi. The story and the music were so enticing, they were pulling me in, so I decided to start classical training. But, again, I was too young. The tenor I auditioned for told me to return to him and the idea of training four years later, as only then, he said, I’d be mature enough to sing.

So I did and got accepted into the most prestigious conservatory in Europe, the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, in Rome. From there, I started winning international opera and chamber music competitions. I toured for over ten years with oscar winner and film composer, Ennio Morricone. Morricone is known for scoring Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western movies, the likes of Mission, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, and The Legend of 1900, all music that I sang with his orchestra in Paris, Verona, Vienna, Rome, Milan, and Venice.

And, shortly after, I had my debut as a soprano soloist in Reggio Calabria, at the Cilea Opera House where I got the chance to perform along with the most famous living baritone in the world, Renato Bruson. He was really tough, but learning from him was a blessing and an honor that I will forever cherish in my heart.

On that occasion, I performed the role of Nannetta in “Falstaff” by Verdi. The audience loved me! It was simply magic. I then started receiving accolades around the world for getting significant roles like Gilda in ‘Rigoletto’ by Verdi, Norina in ‘Don Pasquale’ by Donizetti, and Despina in ‘Cosi’ fan Tutte by Mozart.

It was then that I decided I should give myself a serious chance to make my dream of singing for main opera houses come true, so I came to the US. It was the summer of 2011. I remember I was invited as a special guest to sing for an Independent Music Festival in Hollywood. Not my genre… but I took the chance and sang my favorite song, “La Vie en Rose”. It was a huge success.

An agent heard me sing and encouraged me to apply to a competition, where I ended up winning the Hollywood Music Awards as the best female vocalist. Red carpets, interviews, auditions, concerts, and limousines. The glamour and the spark of the City of Angels changed my life. It was a dream come true. A few years later, I had the chance to open a concert for Andrea Bocelli and I sang with David Foster at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood. We didn’t get the chance to rehearse. We just met on stage. Take it or leave it. It was a big leap but I was born ready and therefore, I said yes!

The concert was such a success that the National Children’s Chorus of the United States of America (NCC) appointed me as a vocal instructor. I loved the experience! I always thought that working with children empowers you, it is both a challenge and a blessing. You get to inspire them through music and at the same time they teach you how to be happy with simple things.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Moving cross country for me was a big leap of faith. Leaving Italy with only a dream and having to start from scratch, was beautiful, terrifying, more beautiful, and yet hard at times. I had to quickly learn a different language, and discover and adjust to a different culture, to different usages. But in the end, it was all worth it.

America, “the land of dreams,” has rewarded me by allowing me to perform with yet more internationally renowned artists; but it mostly gave me a place where my talent and passions continue to be recognized, thus offering me more and more opportunities to grow.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an opera singer, more specifically a soprano. I am known best for performing leading roles in both Opera (Don Pasquale by Donizetti, Così Fan Tutte by Mozart, Rigoletto, and Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi) and Musical Theatre (The Phantom of the Opera by Webber and Carousel by Hammerstein II). I have collaborated with film composers and Oscar winners such as Ennio Morricone and Nicola Piovani, and world-renowned artists such as Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, and Carlo Ponti.

After I was awarded Best Female Vocalist at the Hollywood Music Awards, I moved to Los Angeles from Italy in 2013. My most recent appearances include the New York Fashion Week, the Los Angeles Staples Center as a guest singer of the National Anthem for the LA Clippers, recitals at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and the Chicago Cultural Center.

Nowadays, I perform regularly in Europe and North America while proudly celebrating my Italian Heritage and international artistic background. I consider myself blessed and honored to be part of wonderful events for nonprofit, and charity organizations, such as Caterina’s Club, California Hospital Medical Center Foundation, Desert Arc, Saint Pio Foundation, UKRO Foundation, Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind, Eastwood Ranch Foundation, and LA Virtuosi Orchestra.

I am proud of the woman that I have become, because I believed in my dreams, and I did, and continue to do everything to make them true. With hard work and determination, I was able to achieve them in a foreign country far from home. I have been told that my voice is the mirror of my soul which projects love and energy to the audience. My deepest, most personal accomplishment is knowing I followed what my father envisioned for me as a child. When I perform, I feel like my voice reaches the sky to hug him.

What are your plans for the future?
I consider myself a work-in-progress. I guess all of us. We just sometimes forget it. But that’s the beauty of life, isn’t it? I have and would love to continue sharing Italy’s history and our deep-rooted culture of opera with the younger generation of singers and performers in the United States.

Since I had the privilege of working with some of the best conductors, performers, and directors in the world, It would be an honor and blessing to bring some unique Italian talents to Los Angeles and, more generally, the U.S., so that future generations can learn and benefit from their experience and expertise.

I’d also love to continue sharing my passion and dedication, my understanding and love for music and opera with charities. I believe that music is what can truly unify us. Thus, in a way, I consider my artistic mission as a diplomatic mission too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elisabettarusso.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisabettarussosoprano/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RussoElisabetta
• Twitter: @Lizabethrusso
• Youtube: @elisabetrusso

Image Credits
Dueling Lenses Photography, Giuseppe Nuzzo, Agata Gravante, and Romance by Premium Paris