Mr. Aufiero made his New York conducting debut with Chelsea Opera's Suor Angelica, and has since led performances of Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, William Walton's The Bear and Lee Hoiby's The Scarf (production of the premier's 50th anniversary), and Gianni Schicchi, Glory Denied, Madama Butterfly and The Ballad of Baby Doe to rave reviews.

He was engaged as pianist and assistant conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra's production of Janacek's Osud under Leon Botstein after completing his studies in orchestral conducting with Harold Farberman, and composition, theory, and improvisation with Robert Abramson.

 

From 2005-2008 Mr. Aufiero served as coach and conductor for Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance. In spring 2008 he conducted Chelsea Opera’s performances commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the NYC premiere of Douglas Moore’s Ballad of Baby Doe. In the fall of 2008 Mr. Aufiero conducted Don Giovanni as well as William Walton’s The Bear (based on Chekov’s one-act play) and The Scarf by Lee Hoiby, all with Chelsea Opera.

 

As a guest conductor, Mr. Aufiero led the Marcello Giordani Foundation Gala Concert in 2010 where he collaborated with such celebrated artists as Marcello Giordani, Lise Lindstrom,
 Leah Crochetto, Stephen Costello, and Victor Antipenko.

 

That same year he was invited to La Musica Lirica's summer festival in Novafeltria, Italy, where he conducted performances of Don Giovanni and La Traviata, in addition to his duties assisting acclaimed conductor Joseph Rescigno.

 

In 2013, Mr. Aufiero was invited as a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania
 by International Opera Theater and PiPhilly, as part of their panel, “The Power of Italian Language in the Arts.”

 

An active vocal coach and accompanist, since 2008 Mr. Aufiero has been pianist and studio coach to renowned vocal pedagogue and Metropolitan Opera soprano Diana Soviero, collaborating on master classes for vocal technique, style and repertoire study.

 

Beginning with 2014's production of Adamo's Little Women, Mr. Aufiero began his association with Opera on the James as principal guest conductor. He returned in the fall of 2014 to conduct La Bohème. In 2015, Maestro Aufiero worked with Opera Carolina (Lucia di Lammermoor) and the Viennese Opera Ball Gala at the Waldorf Astoria, collaborating with Metropolitan Opera artists Alyson Cambridge and Amy Shoremount-Obra.

 

He returns to Chelsea Opera as guest conductor in the fall of 2015 to conduct Glory Denied as well as debuting with Syracuse Opera conducting a new production of this opera. He will conduct with Venture Opera’s (NYC) Carmen in the spring of 2016.