Raphael Fusco is an Italian-American composer, keyboardist, and conductor praised as “a lively player and fine improviser” (Los Angeles Times), “one of the most outstanding composers of his generation” (El Mundo), and “a leader in the opera world today” (OperaWire). His compositions span opera, orchestral, choral, art song, and chamber works, that blend expressive lyricism and vibrant textures with structural clarity and dramatic depth. He has received commissions from the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Cecilia Chorus of New York, I Cantori NY, Hartford Chorale, and members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras, with premieres at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Casa Mil? (Barcelona), the Oriental Art Center (Shanghai), and Église Saint-Séverin (Paris).

Fusco has won awards from the NATS Art Song Composition Award, Phoenix Boys Choir New Works Rising Competition, American Prize, Notre Dame University Liturgy Alive Composition Competition, Ruzickova Composition Competition, Fyfe Choral Composition Award, and Aliénor Harpsichord Competition.

As a pianist and harpsichordist, he has performed with the New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre, and Branford Marsalis. Fusco studied with David Loeb, Robert Cuckson, and Carl Schachter at the Mannes College of Music in New York, Giulio Castagnoli in the G. Verdi Conservatory of Turin, Philip Lasser and Narcis Bonet at the École Normale in Paris. He holds a doctorate from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, where his artistic research explored empathy and expressive agency in vocal composition.