Massimo Morelli graduated in piano in 1979 with top marks and honours at the then “Luigi Boccherini” Music Institute in Lucca. He subsequently perfected his skills in Paris with the famous pianist Yvonne Lefebure. In parallel with his piano studies, he began studying composition with the maestros Gaetano Giani Luporini and Carlo Prosperi, and then won the International Competition for the position of assistant pianist at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
In 1981, he won the competition for the position of accompanist pianist at the “Boccherini” Institution. He has held advanced courses for young Italian and foreign pianists and opera singers in numerous cities in Europe, the United States, and Japan, aimed at staging operas in both stage and concert form. After working for several seasons as a répétiteur and stage musical director, he made his debut as a conductor at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago in 1999 with the opera La Bohème, and was confirmed for the new production of Madama Butterfly with the famous scenography by Kan Yasuda. He was engaged as an “Associated Conductor” by Maestro Anton Guadagno, artistic director of the Palm Beach Opera Theatre, for the 1999/2000 opera season, where he conducted the operas La Bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Fedora and Der Fliegende Holländer. In September 2001, he conducted Il Trovatore at the Open-Air Theatre in Cagliari for the celebrations of the Verdi Year and in 2002, Cavalleria Rusticana and La Bohème.
On the occasion of the Festa della Toscana in November 2001, he conducted Tosca with the Teatro del Giglio orchestra, and in 2002, Rigoletto for the 55th Estate Fiesolana, subsequently continuing his activities as a collaborating pianist in numerous concerts and masterclasses with prestigious singers such as Katia Ricciarelli, Francesca Patanè, Lando Bartolini, Raina Kabaivanska, Antonietta Stella and Magda Olivero. He held the role of teacher for the study and concertation of roles of the Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento of the Puccini Festival for young pianists and singers from 2014 to 2016, where he conducted Il Trittico with the young people of the academy.
Since 2014, he has been a musical consultant for the project Cartoline Pucciniane, created by the Teatro del Giglio in collaboration with the Puccini Foundation and the Municipality of Lucca, performing selections of works in which he was the protagonist as a concert pianist. Since 2020, this project has been enriched by the collaboration of the “Boccherini” Conservatory through the pianists of its Piano Accompaniment class, who, together with some singers of the Conservatory and external professional singers, have created several Puccini Operas. He was recently invited to Odessa where he conducted the Opera Madama Butterfly, on the occasion of the Puccini Centenary. Since July 2025, he has been the new director of the Boccherini Conservatory of Lucca.