impresario

American  

[im-pruh-sahr-ee-oh, -sair-] / ˌɪm prəˈsɑr iˌoʊ, -ˈsɛər- /

noun

impresarios plural

1. a person who organizes or manages public entertainments, especially operas, ballets, or concerts.

2. any manager, director, or the like.

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impresario British  

/ ˌɪmprəˈsɑːrɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. a producer or sponsor of public entertainments, esp musical or theatrical ones

2. the director or manager of an opera, ballet, or other performing company

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impresario Cultural  

1. A sponsor or producer of entertainment, especially someone who works with opera or ballet companies or performers of classical music.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• impresarios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of impresario

1740–50; < Italian, equivalent to impres ( a ) impresa + -ario -ary

Explanation

An impresario is a promoter: someone who books, promotes, and organizes shows such as concerts. Impresario comes from an Italian word for a businessperson, and in English it especially refers to someone in the promotion business. In the music business, Bill Graham was a famous impresario who arranged concerts for huge bands such as The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. An impresario signs a band — or other entertainment — and makes a deal with the venue. Impresarios then arrange advertising and promotion to alert fans and arrange for tickets to be sold. Impresarios make shows happen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

impresario impresarios

A Delaware Court of Chancery judge delivered a blow to wrestling impresario Vince McMahon and other World Wrestling Entertainment officials earlier this week.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

And it’s Cooper Hoffman, in a performance as flustered as his impresario in “Licorice Pizza” was confident, who commands the movie, topping from the bottom.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

Mr. Orbán was ultimately more impresario than statesman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

Earlier, in 1999, Naveen Kishore, theatre impresario and publisher of the Kolkata- based publishers Seagull Books, documented Bhaduri's life in a film and exhibition.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

Gay’s Beggar’s Opera was produced by the impresario John Rich, so the saying around town was that the venture had 'made Rich gay and Gay rich’.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Later this year, the hot dog impresarios at Oscar Mayer will release their own vegan version in partnership with food technology startup NotCo.

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2024

Construction companies, gambling impresarios, pharmaceutical bosses and many more corporate entities and individuals had forked over $1.7 billion in bonds since 2019.

From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2024

In addition to Valentine, Adler gathered a dream team of music-world impresarios as owner-investor-advisers in the Roxy “to validate it before we ever opened,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

And the impresarios who made that space safe for them are unsung heroes.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023

"It would put out the lights at ten p. m.," answered Mr. Magee, "and inculcate other wholesome habits of living disastrous to the restaurant impresarios."

From Seven Keys to Baldpate by Biggers, Earl Derr