Elaine Rinaldi, Founder and Artistic Director of Orchestra Miami, is a Miami native who has chosen to return home and reinvest in her community. Under her artistic supervision and direction, Orchestra Miami has performed high quality classical music concerts to literally thousands of people through its annual Free Outdoor Concerts and introduced over 30,000 school children to classical music through its collaboration with the MDCPS Cultural Passport Program and InSchool Performances. Critics have called her work “absolutely exceptional” (El Nuevo Herald). Of her work, Lawrence Budmen of the Miami Herald wrote “Rinaldi clearly has a penchant for offering interesting thematic programming and promising soloists” and Daniel Fernandez of El Nuevo Herald wrote, “Rinaldi is a conductor who marries her professionalism with an exquisite sensitivity”

In addition to her work with Orchestra Miami, Rinaldi is much in demand as a guest conductor. Her recent engagements have included her debuts in Bodrum, Turkey with La Serva Padrona and Il Giouco del Quadriglio, Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale for the FIU Festival (Miami) , the world premiere of the Concerto for Guitar by Sergio Assad at the FIU GuitArt Festival (Miami), leading the annual Holiday Concert in Bryant Park for the New York City Opera, performances of The Magic Flute at Opera in the Ozarks, Don Giovanni at Opera Orlando, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi at Mezzano Romantico Summer Festival (Fiera di Primiero, Italy) and sold-out performances of Don Giovanni at the Tri-Cities Opera. She was the Principal Guest Conductor at the Dicapo Opera Theatre from 2001-2006 and has led several tours for the National Lyric Opera, twice appeared as a guest conductor with the Albany Symphony for the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Festival, and conducted performances of La Traviata for Island Opera Theater in Key West, FL. Rinaldi has held many positions as an Assistant and/or Cover Conductor in many of this country’s leading regional opera theaters. From 1997-2000, she held the positions of Resident Associate Conductor and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami. Critics called her work with the chorus “exquisite”, and Tim Smith of the Ft, Lauderdale Sun Sentinel said “the chorus, under Elaine Rinaldi’s direction, gets better and better.”(La Boheme).

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Her awards have included First Prize in The American Prize Ernst Bacon Award for the Performance of American Music, the Agnis Varis/Intercities Performing Arts grant, the League of American Orchestra’s mentorship with Joann Faletta, Finalist for the American Prize for Orchestral Conducting and Orchestra Performance, the Newton Swift Prize for Accompanying at the Mannes College of Music and the M. B. Byrd full tuition scholarship at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

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As a student and young professional, Rinaldi had the privilege of working with many of the world’s most important opera singers, accompanying extensively in their master classes and lessons. Several of the artists with whom she worked closely are Renato Capecchi, Nico Castel, Sherrill Milnes, Mignon Dunn, Renata Scotto, Juan Pons, Judith Blegen and Dodi Protero, as well as Franco Corelli, Sena Jurinacs, Theo Adam, Maestro Horst Stein, Dolores Ziegler and James King. This important work has contributed to her versatility and her status as one of the most sought-after vocal coaches in opera today. As an educator, Rinaldi has taught at many opera training programs, and given master classes at several universities throughout the United States. At the Miami Music Festival, she conducted performances of L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Die Zauberflöte, performances of Die Zauberflöte and Suor Angelica for Intermezzo Summer Opera Training Program, and led performances of Handel’s Orlando for BAYSOTI in San Francisco. Other coaching positions included Senior Coach at Opera in the Ozarks, Italian Recitativo Coach for the University of Miami’s Le Nozze di Figaro, running the Young Arts program and Summer Institute at Dicapo Opera, staff coach at the Martina Arroyo “Prelude to Performance” and Adjunct Professor in Vocal Coaching at the University of Miami from 2007-2015.

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In addition to her work with Orchestra Miami, Ms. Rinaldi maintains an active presence on the stage as a chamber musician and recital accompanist, and works with some of the most recognizable names in the world of opera in her private coaching studio in New York City. Notable recital engagements have included performances with Metropolitan Opera stars Russell Thomas, Olga Makarina, Eglise Gutierrez, Elizabeth Caballero and Elaine Alvarez. Recently, she accompanied soprano Yunah Lee in a recital tour of Japan and has been a favorite guest artist with the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival.