Born in Naples but raised in Rome, Caterina Di Tonno began her musical studies at a very young age as pianist and violinist. Later on she took up voice studies with Maria Luisa Carboni and graduated from the Conservatorio of Pescara. She perfected her education with Shirley Verret, Alfonso Antoniozzi, R. Resnik. Then Mariella Devia had a profound influence on her technique.
She has won prizes at many competitions in Italy (“Di Stefano”, “Bellini”, “Duchi d’Acquaviva”, As.Li.Co. among them). In 2007 she won the “Toti Dal Monte” Competition as Despina in Così fan tutte, launching her operatic career. Thanks to her intuitive sense of theatre, she excels in comedic and brilliant roles, especially those of Mozart. Highlights in recent seasons include the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy produced by Teatro La Fenice in Venice starting from 2011 and frequently revived in the following years, directed by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Antonello Manacorda, in the three roles of Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Despina in Così fan tutte. With the same creative team she was Papagena in Die Zauberflöte in 2015. In 2010 she portrayed Giovanna in the TV production of Rigoletto with Placido Domingo conducted by Zubin Mehta. She worked with Mehta again in 2011 as Sacerdotessa in Aida at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Her operatic repertoire includes Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Mantova, 2006), Nannetta in Falstaff (Circuito Lombardo, 2008), Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Napoli, 2008), Berenice in L’occasione fa il ladro (Lugo, 2009), Serpina in La serva padrona (Treviso, 2010), Olimpia in La fuga in maschera by Spontini (Festival Jesi e Napoli, 2012-13), Clorinda in Cenerentola (San Carlo di Napoli, 2014), Valenciennes in La vedova allegra (Cagliari, 2015). Upcoming performances include La grotta di Trofonio by Paisiello at Festival della Valle d’Itria and Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Her versatility led her often to experimenting with-non-strictly classical vocal techniques in projects such as the soundtrack by Carlo Crivelli for the tv movie Virginia la monaca di Monza directed by Alberto Sironi and Gershwin songs with the famous jazz pianist Giorgio Gaslini.
Her extensive baroque, chamber, oratorio and concert experience include Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum (in Naples conducted by Jeffrey Tate and in Milan conducted by Antonello Manacorda), Bach’s Magnificat (MiTo Festival, conducted by Manacorda), Rossini’s Stabat mater (Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra in Beirut), Beethoven’s Egmont (Pomeriggi Musicali),Spohr’s Des Heilands letzte Stunden (Coro e Orchestra dell’Opera di Roma), Mercadante’s Le ultime sette parole (Coro e Orchestra del San Carlo di Napoli) and, in 2016, Mozart’s and Donizetti’s Requiems with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra.
He sang in the film Gianni Schicchi directed by D. Michieletto and in the summer of 2023 he participated in the filming of the film ‘The Opera’ directed by D. Livermore.
