Renato Rivolta read philosophy and received an all-round musical training at the Conservatory in Milan (violin, flute, composition and conducting). He continued his education as a postgraduate student of Sòndor Vègh (chamber music), Franco Donatoni (composition) and Peter Eötvös (conducting) at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Eventually he decided to focus entirely on conducting.
As a conductor, he has laid special emphasis on contemporary music, without ignoring the masterpieces of the past. He has performed at major contemporary music festivals including 'Ars Musica' in Brussels, 'Time of Music' in Vitaasari (Finland), 'Cdmc' (Madrid), the Venice Biennale, 'Wien Modern', 'Musica' in Strasbourg, 'Archipel' in Geneva, 'Grame' in Lyon, 'Milano Musica', the Luciano Berio Festival in La Scala, 'Présences', bbc Festival in Edinburgh as well as in prestigious concert venues such as the Pompidou Centre, Museé d'Orsay, ircam and Radio France in Paris, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the halls in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
He has conducted leading new music groups including 'Ensemble InterContemporain', Ensemble Modern, 'Klangforum Wien', '2e2m', 'Nieuw', Netherlands Blazer Ensemble, 'L'itinéraire', 'Ex Novo', 'Edgard Varèse' and 'Endymion'
He has taken part in such major projects as Stockhausen's Gruppen at the Salzburg Festival (1994) and at Cité de la musique in Paris (1998), Ligeti's Grand Macabre in Paris (1999) and Berio's Sinfonia at the La Monnaie in Brussels (1997).
In 1992-98 he conducted the 'Ensemble Nuove Sincronie' in Milan. In 1996-98 he worked as 'chef assistant' of the 'Ensemble InterContemporain'.
He also teaches 'chamber music in the present-day repertoire' at the Accademia Internazionale di Musica in Milan and Scuola Superiore di Musica di Fiesole in Florence.