Beatrice Venezi Named Music Director of Venice’s La Fenice

Venice’s historic opera house La Fenice has appointed Beatrice Venezi as its new Music Director, in a move that has drawn both praise and controversy.

The 35-year-old conductor from Lucca will take up the post in October 2026, with her contract running through March 2030. The decision was unanimously approved by the theatre’s board, chaired by Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who hailed the appointment as bringing “professionalism, international visibility, dynamism and renewal.”

Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli also welcomed the choice, calling Venezi’s appointment “well-deserved” and praising her “dedication, professionalism and creativity.”

Venezi thanked the board in a statement posted on social media, saying she was “deeply honored” to take on the role at an institution she described as embodying “quality and prestige.” She added that she looked forward to opening a “human, artistic and musical dialogue” with the theatre, the city and its audiences.

The appointment is significant as one of the rare instances in which a woman has been chosen to lead a major international opera house.

Venezi studied piano at the Siena Conservatory before training in conducting at the Milan Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi.” Despite not holding major posts in the past, she has cultivated strong ties to Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and in 2021 she received an award from Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party. Italian media often describe her as politically aligned with the far right.

Her political associations have sparked protest. During a performance in Nice, France, some audience members shouted: “No fascists in the opera house.”