Life Story
Ashley Rizzo grew up in Silicon Valley, CA, and began her lifelong passion for music, art, and books at a young age. She spent her childhood singing with Cantabile Youth Singers, performing at venues from San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Ashley went on to attend a specialized arts boarding high school, then followed her passion to the East Coast. She holds a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory in Boston, MA.
Ashley began her performing career in NYC as a student of celebrated soprano, Andrea DelGiudice. Ashley held artistic residencies with Dicapo Opera Theatre and Opera Manhattan while working in administrative management at the British International School. While dividing her time between the cities of Boston and NY, Ashley also worked for marketing and public relations agency, Ogilvy & Mather.
Past positions include Executive Director of VOICES Boston, Narnia Festival’s Vocal Arts Director of Development & Administration, Marketing Director of Opera on Tap, Classical Music Contributor of ZUMIX Radio, administrative and artistic support for Maestro Federico Cortese of the Boston Youth Symphony and Harvard-Radcliffe orchestras, and Managing Director of MetroWest Opera. Ashley has also worked in the development, admission, marketing, and residential life departments at Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA), rated #1 Best High School for the Arts by NICHE in 2019, in addition to being a member of the music faculty. In 2016, Ashley oversaw communications and public programming for the Art, Culture & Technology program at MIT, and was selected to represent the school at the Future Fictions Summit in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Most recently, Ashley was the Director of Fine Arts at Ignite Teen Treatment, creating and implementing their first comprehensive arts curriculum. This benefitted hundreds of adolescents overcoming mental health challenges, many of who had never previously been exposed to the arts.
“Growth Moments”
By Ashley Rizzo
If I had to describe myself in three words they would be: tireless, inspired, and optimistic. I take pride in my commitment to continual self-improvement and enthusiasm for lifelong learning.
I commuted between NYC, Boston, and Saco, ME to earn a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory, the oldest conservatory in America and among the best in the world. This opportunity still fills me with deep gratitude and wonder. I did this while maintaining full-time teaching and administrative jobs, and regularly performing with two opera companies.
I sang my graduate recital, the final component of my MM degree, 27 hours after and blocks away from the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. The tragedy gave me the (foolish) courage to run the 2014 Boston Marathon, in spite of having never run a marathon before. I wanted to do this to raise money for bombing victims and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as celebrate Boston’s resiliency. On 4/21/14, Boston reclaimed her Patriots’ Day. Somehow, I slowly ran all 26.2 miles wearing a shirt bearing one chosen word: redemption.
I’ve been involved in events supporting those deserving and in need of much more support, including the LGBTQIA+ and POC communities. I will particularly never forget getting to spend time with Governor Deval Patrick at Boston’s Pride Parade.
I've been fortunate to have worked with immensely talented musicians, artists, teachers, directors, politicians, and administrators at the top of their fields. These mentors have been invaluable to my development as a musician, administrator, and person.
I was one of three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) employees chosen to represent them at a think tank in Reykjavik, Iceland. This three-day artistic exploration culminated in a showing at the Reykjavik Art Museum.
I’ve served on multiple safety committees in a leadership capacity, helping navigate bomb threats, a major wildfire, and an attempted kidnapping. I also have Medical Tech, CPR, and First Aid certifications.
I was chosen to be Idyllwild Arts Academy’s alumni guest artist and speaker, returning to campus to perform a recital and give a masterclass and presentation to students. This included a Q&A session which inspired, challenged, and impressed me.
I've donated personal funds to organizations benefiting the arts, the elderly, animals, schools, environmental conservation, and victims of environmental catastrophes. I am a lifelong advocate for the arts and those in our society who are marginalized.
I speak fluent English, have learned decent French, and am increasing my proficiencies in German and Italian. I’ve performed in all these languages in addition to Spanish.
To my surprise and delight, I discovered in adulthood that I have a knack for visual art in painting and still-life drawing mediums. This has been a great source of personal fun, and I recently started teaching others.
I've rescued three beautiful dogs and adopted two deserving others: all cute, none well behaved.
