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

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Etymology

Origin of impresario

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

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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

Pollock added Eddie Hearn to his advisory team earlier this year and the boxing impresario upped the ante by claiming his new client was "a seven-figure player", whose current pay shocked him.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Trump stood behind the spread as host and Quarter Pounder impresario.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Beshir has partnered with nightlife impresario Kim Kelly, who is plotting a “Sleep No More”-inspired walk-around theatrical show for the Sunset House venue later this year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Ms. Allen, a professor at Harvard, claims to have discovered a secret impresario of radical political thinking in the highest reaches of the British aristocracy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

“I have taken the liberty of informing the impresario that you acquired your astounding musical facility in one night through conversation with the Devil at a crossroads.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

But offshore internet betting, and the exception enjoyed by fantasy leagues, eroded the principles of sports impresarios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Nearly two years since the last Verzuz battle, R&B and hip-hop impresarios Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have signed a distribution deal to relaunch the streaming battle series on X.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024

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

"They seemed to look upon the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as impresarios who made it possible to forget and have fun," the report said.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2022

Mr. Strakosch is the nephew of the two well-known impresarios, Maurice and Max Strakosch.

From Memoirs of an American Prima Donna by Clara Louise Kellogg

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