Recent highlights of Colaneri's career include conducting Macbeth at Maryland Lyric Opera, Rigoletto at Utah Symphony and Opera, and La bohème for both Seattle Opera and New Orleans Opera. He also led La Traviata for Toledo Opera and made notable debuts at San Diego Opera with Verdi’s Aïda and at l’Opéra Royale de Versailles with Corigliano and Hoffman’s The Ghosts of Versailles. During the unique 2020 virtual season at The Glimmerglass Festival, he presented master classes for their Young Artists program, served as music director for an animated version of Wagner’s Die Feen, and lectured in the six-part YouTube series, Keeping Time with Colaneri, which explored the history and understanding of opera.

A frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera since 1998, Colaneri has conducted productions of Mefistofele and Norma. His extensive repertoire at the Met includes La bohème (company debut, 2000), Turandot with Andrea Gruber, Rigoletto in the popular Parks performances, L’italiana in Algeri with Olga Borodina, Nabucco featuring Maria Guleghina at Lincoln Center, Falstaff with Bryn Terfel, La fille du régiment with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, and Mary Zimmerman's production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Notably, during the 2009-2010 season, he stepped in for James Levine for the Metropolitan’s new Luc Bondy production of Tosca, which included a worldwide HD transmission and DVD release by EMI. In the 2011-2012 season, he led performances of Don Pasquale.

From 2012 to 2014, Colaneri served as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera, where he conducted productions of Othello, Il trovatore, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, and Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Colaneri has been a guest conductor with distinguished opera companies including Teatro Colón, Den Norske Opera, Atlanta Opera, Portland Opera, and Chautauqua Opera. His orchestral engagements include leading the Tokyo Philharmonic in a concert featuring soprano Renée Fleming, which was broadcast throughout Asia by NHK; conducting Jianyi Zhang and Richard Zeller in an opera highlights program with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan; an 'All-Devils concert' in Orlando, Florida, featuring bass Samuel Ramey; conducting the prestigious Richard Tucker Gala at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall; and leading the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a celebrated benefit for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

A dedicated advocate for young artists and audience outreach, Colaneri has served as guest artist in residence at the Juilliard School, the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, Rice University, and the San Francisco Opera Center. Early in his career, he was Music Director of the New York City Opera National Company (the touring arm), producing and conducting national tours of La fille du régiment, Tosca, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, and La bohème. He frequently conducted productions for the Western Opera Theater and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola program, including La Traviata, Rigoletto, Die Fledermaus, Gianni Schicchi, and Suor Angelica. As Artistic Director of the Opera Program at the Mannes School of Music in New York for 20 years, he guided emerging artists through the demands of professional careers. Building on the success of the annual opera scenes program at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, he initiated fully staged productions in 2004, earning high praise from The New York Times, which noted, “If this is the kind of work he does here, the program should be getting even more attention.” Colaneri has received recognition for his work with emerging artists from the Gerda Lissner Foundation and the Licia Albanese - Puccini Foundation.

In the 1994 season, Colaneri was honored by New York City Opera with its Julius Rudel Award. He made his New York City Opera debut conducting South Pacific in 1987, subsequently leading over 60 performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia, La bohème, Carmen, Rigoletto, Tosca, La Traviata, The New Moon, and The Merry Widow. Notable highlights from his time at City Opera include the acclaimed 1993 world premiere of Hugo Weisgall’s Esther and the 1995 American premiere of Toshiro Mayuzumi's opera Kinkakuji: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

Colaneri is also a sought-after speaker on opera, leading an annual lecture series for The Metropolitan Opera Club and serving as a guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Los Angeles Opera League. He teaches an annual series of Saturday Opera Seminars at New York University.

A graduate of New York University and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he received a Master of Music degree and the 1994 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Joseph Colaneri began his professional music career as an organist and choral conductor. He made his opera debut as Chorus Master of the New Jersey State Opera and continued as Chorus Master of the New York City Opera before transitioning to the operatic and orchestral arenas. Colaneri held a conducting position at the New York City Opera (NYCO) for eleven years (1987-1998) and served as Music Director of NYCO’s touring arm, the New York City Opera National Company, from 1991 to 1998. He was Acting Music Director of New York City Opera during the 1995-1996 season. Colaneri resides in the New York City area with his family.

Current as of June 17, 2025