Rustioni is a regular presence on the podiums of the world’s leading orchestras. In recent seasons Rustioni has guest conducted throughout North America, Europe, U.K., and Asia making many notable debuts including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Orchestra dell’Accademia Sinfonica Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Highlights of the 2025 – 2026 season include debuts with the Orchestre National de France, Enescu Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and the Orchestra del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He will also make his Cleveland Orchestra subscription debut at Severance Music Center having made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival in August 2025. He will return to the BBC Symphony, Philharmonia Zürich, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony.

Rustioni will make his Vienna State Opera debut with a new production of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles, his debut at the Shanghai Grand Theater leading the Bavarian State Opera on tour with Verdi’s Otello, and the debut at the Herkulessaal der Münchner Residenz conducting Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. He returns to the Opernfestspiele at the Bavarian State Opera with Weber’s Der Freischütz, and the Teatro alla Scala with a new production of Gounod’s Faust.

Other important guest conducting appearances in recent seasons include the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, the Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Detroit Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (Turin).

Rustioni’s opera repertoire numbers over 70 works spanning over centuries and ranging from Italian to French, German to Russian, and more. In 2022, he received the prestigious “Best Conductor” award from the International Opera Awards. He has led performances at nearly all of the most important international opera houses and international festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Aix-en-Provence, BBC Proms, Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Dutch National Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Royal Opera House-Covent Garden, Teatro Real (Madrid), Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (Valencia), Zürich Opera House and the Teatro alla Scala. In Italy, his homeland, he has also conducted at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Rossini Opera Festival (Pesaro) and Teatro San Carlo (Naples).

The Metropolitan Opera has been an important part of Rustioni’s artistic life since his debut in 2017 with Aida. Most recently, he led performances of the new production of Carmen which premiered at the New Year’s Eve Gala on December 31, 2023. Other productions at the Met have  included Falstaff, Le Nozze di Figaro, and a new production of Rigoletto, while in the 2025-2026 season he will conduct Don Giovanni, La bohème, and Andrea Chènier (part of the live HD on cinema series). Future projects include new operatic productions, a world premiere and symphonic concerts at Carnegie Hall with the Met Orchestra. 

Rustioni’s most recent recording was Aigul Akhmetshina’s debut album on Decca. His discography includes a range of repertoire for Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Unitel, Opus Arte, 

Opera Rara, Dynamic, and Sony Classical. In 2022, Naxos released the video/dvd of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Barrie Kosky at the Opéra National de Lyon. 

Rustioni began his career in 1993 as a member of Teatro alla Scala’s children’s chorus. He studied at Milan’s Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” (Diploma degrees in Organ, Piano, Composition and Orchestral Conducting), La Scala Academy (Diploma as répétiteur); he continued with postgraduate studies in conducting at Siena’s Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Diploma d’Onore), and London’s Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). He resides in London with his wife violinist Francesca Dego and their daughter.