Biography

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 studied in Arizona for six months, graduating from the renowned Phoenix Boys Choir. At the age of 15 he founded a vocal ensemble called Grupo Angels; this group 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.

In 2006 Marcio received his Diplôme d'Études Musicales in voice from the Conservatoire de Toulouse, France, studying with Anne Fondeville. He also studied choral conducting with Professor Rolandas Muleika, and orchestral conducting with Professor Stephan Cardon. During his studies Marcio worked extensively in the chorus of opera productions at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and the Théâtre des Champs Elysees and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Marcio then 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 the three finalists at the Princess Astrid International Conducting Competition in Trondheim, Norway, with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

Marcio is founder and artistic director of the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, and also of Ensemble OrQuesta which specialises in performing 17th and 18th century opera. From 2012-2022 Marcio was the music director of the Grange Choral Society. He is currently the Music Director of the Billingshurst Choral Society, and the Hastings Philharmonic Choir. He also conducts a semi-professional chamber choir, HPO Singers, and he has founded a children's choir - HPO Songbirds. He was artistic director of the Woodhouse Opera Festival from 2012 until its final season in 2018. Marcio has conducted many orchestras across Europe including the Pforzheimkammerorchester (Germany), Orchestra Sinfonica della Magna Grecia (Italy), Horizon Ensemble Bydgoszcz (Poland), Württembergische Philharmonie (Germany), Südwestdeutschephilharmonie Konstanz (Germany), Stuttgartkammerorchester (Germany), Nord Tchechische Philarmonie (Czech Republic), Orquestra Sinfonica de Minas Gerais (Brazil), Eskişehir Metropolitan Orchestra (Turkey), Çukurova Symphony Orchestra (Turkey) and the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra (Kosovo).

In recent years Marcio has conducted and stage/music directed over 30 fully staged productions of operas, ranging from less regularly performed works such as Lully's Armide, to popular works such as Carmen, The Magic Flute and La Bohème with a significant focus on baroque opera repertoire. In these productions, Marcio usually serves as music and stage director, but he also acts as lighting designer and choreographer, and plays a central role as continuo and baroque guitar player. Together with lutenist Cédric Meyer, Marcio has also undertaken a number of new editions of rarely performed baroque operas including: Xerse (Cavalli), Céphale et Procris (Jacquet de la Guerre), Euridice (Caccini) and L’Egisto (Cavalli). In these editions, Marcio not only reviews the material from the manuscripts but re-works the entire piece, producing a unique new version of the opera.

Marcio's company Ensemble OrQuesta takes pride in presenting two professional productions in London each year - one at The Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone and the other at the Arcola Theatre as part of the Grimeborn Festival. These productions have garnered increasing critical acclaim, securing many ★★★★ and ★★★★★ reviews from highly regarded opera critics. Two company members have received OFFIE nominations for their opera performances under Marcio's direction: Helen May for Calisto (La Calisto, Cavalli, Cockpit Theatre, 2020), and Poppy Shotts for Oberto, (Alcina, Handel, Arcola Theatre, 2021).

In June 2021 Marcio was invited to work with Hampstead Garden Opera as both music and stage director of Cavalli's L'Egisto for a series of performances at The Cockpit. Under Marcio's direction, the lead tenor was nominated for an OFFIE for his performance of the role of Egisto. In August 2021 Marcio's company Ensemble OrQuesta presented Handel's Alcina at the Arcola Theatre as part of The Grimeborn Opera Festival. They subsequently toured this production to the newly developed Théâtre Basse Passière in Normandy. On Christmas Day 2021 Marcio was delighted to hear that his Arcola Theatre production of Alcina - 'Handel stripped down and brilliant' - had been named as 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 the Ensemble OrQuesta Orchestra and Company for l'Incoronazione were nominated as OFFIE FINALISTS for Opera Performance.

In 2014 Marcio founded Ensemble OrQuesta Opera Academy and has organised a number of highly regarded opera academies in venues across the UK 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 intensive courses Marcio and his team offer coaching in languages, vocal technique, style, interpretation and staging. Marcio himself is fluent in seven languages.

Marcio also has considerable experience of oratorio and concert repertoire having conducted many of the mainstream romantic and baroque oratorio works, and many lesser known pieces, as well as a number of world premieres.

As a singer (baritone and countertenor) Marcio has performed the roles of Marcello in La Bohème (Puccini), Arnalta and Littore in L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), Mercurio in La Callisto (Cavalli), Orfeo in L'Orfeo (Monteverdi), Colas in Bastien et Bastienne (Mozart), La Haine in Armide (Lully), Aeneas in Dido & Aeneas (Purcell), Aristone in Xerse (Cavalli) and Thésée in Hippolyte et Aricie (Rameau). He also performs regularly as a recital soloist. In concert he has performed Dichterliebe (Schumann), Die Winterreise (Schubert), Songs of Travel and House of Life (Vaughan Williams) and Siete Canciones Populares (De Falla).

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 also works with Cédric Meyer to prepare new editions of baroque operas for online publication. They produce multi-purpose and functional editions which also offer a sample realisation 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. New editions for 2023 include Céphale et Procris by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, and Cavalli's Musiche Sacre. These editions are prepared for online publication and are available for free download.

Having been resident in the UK for ten years, Marcio successfully applied for British citizenship in 2021. Happily settled in Hastings, where he lives with his wife, the lyric soprano Helen May da Silva, and his son and daughter from his first marriage, he enjoys regular trips to visit his mother and siblings in France, his father and other relatives and friends in Brazil, and many long-standing friends in Europe.