Marcio da Silva

Born in 1983 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Marcio da Silva began his music studies at the age of 9 with piano lessons and choral singing. As a young boy-soprano he performed as a soloist in Germany, Italy and Brazil, including performances for audiences of over 32,000 people. In 1998 he travelled to the United States, where he studied in Arizona for six months, graduating from the renowned Phoenix Boys Choir. At the age of 15 Marcio founded a vocal ensemble called Grupo Angels, which went on to be awarded the Silver Diploma at the Cäcilia Choir Days Competition in Limburg, Germany, and to be one of the finalists at the II Funarte Choral Competition in Brazil. From a young age Marcio also gained extensive experience in opera, beginning as a child soloist at Palacio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, and then subsequently at the Théâtre du Capitol de Toulouse, and the Théâtre des Champs Elysees and the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris.

In 2006 Marcio received his Diplôme d'Études Musicales in voice from the Conservatoire de Toulouse, France, in the class of Mme. Anne Fondeville. He also studied choral conducting with Professor Rolandas Muleika, and orchestral conducting with Professor Stephan Cardon.
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Marcio continued to develop his orchestral conducting, moving to Germany in April 2008 to join the Musikhochschule, Freiburg, studying under Professor Scott Sandmeier. In the same year he was awarded the fourth prize at the Giuseppe Patané Conducting Competition in Grosseto, Italy. He obtained his Bachelor of Music in July 2011.

Subsequently Marcio moved to London to undertake a Masters in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music, studying under Professors Peter Stark and Robin O'Neill. In 2012 he was one of three conductors chosen to take part in the London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Master Class with Sir Colin Davis. In July 2013 he secured his Masters degree, and in November 2014 he was one of three finalists at the Princess Astrid International Conducting Competition in Trondheim, Norway, with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

​Marcio was the music director of the Grange Choral Society from 2012-2022. He is the music director of the Billingshurst Choral Society, and the Hastings Philharmonic Choir. He is Artistic Director of the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and the HPO Singers, and conductor of HPO Songbirds (children's choir). He has wide-ranging experience as an orchestral conductor, having conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), the Pforzheimkammerorchester (Germany), Orchestra Sinfonica della Magna Grecia (Italy), Nord Tchechische Philarmonie (Czech Republic), Orquestra Sinfonica de Minas Gerais (Brazil), Württembergische Philharmonie (Germany), Horizon Ensemble Bydgoszcz (Poland), Eskişehir Metropolitan Orchestra (Turkey), Südwestdeutschephilharmonie Konstanz (Germany), Stuttgartkammerorchester (Germany), Çukurova Symphony Orchestra (Turkey), and the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra (Kosovo).

Marcio was Music Director of Woodhouse Opera from 2012 until its final season in 2018. In 2020, he was invited to take on the role of Stage and Music Director for Hampstead Garden Opera's production of Cavalli's L'Egisto, which received multiple ★★★★ reviews and secured an OFFIE nomination for opera performance for the lead tenor. 

In the past nine years Marcio has conducted and directed over 30 fully staged opera productions, ranging from less regularly performed works such as Lully's Armide and Cavalli's La Calisto (which received multiple ★★★★ reviews and secured an OFFIE nomination for opera performance for the lead soprano), to very popular works such as Bizet's Carmen, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Puccini's La bohème. In recent years Marcio has taken a number of professional opera productions to a variety of fringe venues in London to critical acclaim. This has included performances at The Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone and, by invitation, participation in recurring seasons of the Grimeborn Opera Festival, at the Arcola Theatre, London. In 2021 Marcio took a touring production of Handel's Alcina to the Théâtre Basse Passière in Normandy. In December 2021 Marcio was delighted to hear that his Arcola Theatre production of Alcina - 'Handel stripped down and brilliant' - had been named No 4 in The top ten best classical music performances of 2021 (Fiona Maddocks - The Observer). In August 2022 Marcio's production of Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Ensemble OrQuesta, Arcola Theatre) received two OFFIE nominations, for best opera performance and best opera production. In January 2023 news was received that the Ensemble OrQuesta Company and Orchestra of L'Incoronazione had been announced as an OFFIE finalist for Opera Performance. 

Since 2014 Marcio has also organized several Opera Academies each year. These have given many singers from across the world the opportunity to study and perform an operatic work at a high artistic level. During these courses Marcio offers coaching in languages (being fluent in seven himself), vocal technique, style, movement, interpretation and staging.

In 2022 Marcio began to develop educational outreach opera projects. In February 2022 Marcio and Helen (EOrQ Production Manager and Company Member) went into primary schools in Hastings to lead a day of primary school opera workshops.  Groups of children were encouraged to explore how opera communicates with its audience and were engaged in a range of physical theatre sessions, using mime and movement to explore different aspects of performance. The children had the opportunity to work with ideas from Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, and they learned the dance sequences developed by Marcio and used at The Cockpit for the instrumental interlude. 

Early music outreach projects for 2023 will include Cavalli's Musiche Sacre - 'Music from a time of plague.' During this project, children will explore baroque music both vocally and through physical theatre in workshop sessions, culminating in a final performance with members of an adult amateur chamber choir, young professional singers, and the early music specialist musicians of Ensemble OrQuesta Baroque. Read more here.

As a singer (baritone and countertenor) Marcio has recently performed the roles of Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, Orfeo in Monteverdi's L'Ofeo (concert version), Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Mercurio in Cavalli's La Callisto, Aristone in Cavalli's Xerse, Thésée in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Colas in Mozart's Bastien et Bastienne and La Haine in Lully's Armide. He also performs regularly as a recitalist.

Marcio is also a composer. His works include choral a capella pieces, art songs with piano accompaniment and a Te Deum for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

Marcio works with Cédric to prepare new editions of baroque operas for online publication. They produce multi-purpose and functional editions which also offer a sample realization of the continuo. Editions produced thus far include Cavalli’s Xerse, Cavalli’s La Calisto, Cavalli’s L’Egisto, Caccini’s Euridice, Carissimi’s Jonas and Carissimi’s Jepthe. These editions are prepared for online publication and are available for free download. New editions for 2023 will include Céphale et Procrisby Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, and Cavalli's Musiche Sacre.