Alfredo Silipigni was the principal conductor and artistic director of the New Jersey State Opera (NJSOpera) since the company’s founding forty years ago. The international reputation of NJSOpera was built on his authoritative performances, particularly of the Verdi and verismo repertoires, and during his tenure the New Jersey State Opera became famous for its revivals including Fedora, Attila, Caterino Cornaro, Adriana Lecouvreur, Zaza, Iris, Le Villi, Zanetto and Lodoletta. In October 2002, Maestro Silipigni conducted two performances of Verdi’s Aida in Shanghai, China in their new stadium which is the size of three soccer fields. With an internationally acclaimed cast of singers, a double orchestra and 1500 supers, these were the largest performances ever given of this Verdi masterpiece anywhere in the world. Each performance was attended by over 50,000 persons, including the President of China, and concluded with a massive display of fireworks. In May 1996, under his baton, the company presented the New York metropolitan premiere of The Jewel Box, a “new” Mozart opera with libretto by Paul Griffiths, music critic of The New Yorker magazine. During the 1996-1997 season, Maestro Silipigni conducted NJSOpera performances of Don Carlo and Don Giovanni. The 1990 Newark Symphony Hall production of Verdi’s Nabucco was brought, in concert version, to a sold-out house in New York’s Carnegie Hall. 

Maestro Silipigni made his Carnegie hall debut, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra (Symphony of the Air), at the age of 25. In addition to his association with the New Jersey State Opera, Alfredo Silipigni appeared as guest conductor with companies ranging from the Vienna State Opera, the English National Opera, Opera de Puerto Rico, Vienna Staatsoper and the Liceo Barcelona to L’Opéra de Montréa and Vancouver Opera in Canada, and with many symphony orchestras. In November 1993, he was appointed music advisor and permanent guest conductor of the Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, conducting several performances, both opera and concert, each season. His published recordings of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur and Leoncavallo’s Zaza, have recently been re-released on two compact discs by Nuova Era Records (Quaiiton). The Zaza recording coincided with an Italian-French tour of the opera and culminated in an acclaimed performance of this rarity by the New Jersey State Opera.

In addition to conducting Opera Montréal’s productions of Fedora, Suor Angelica and Pagliacci, Maestro Silipigni was guest conductor for Opera Colorado’s performances of La Traviata at Denver in the spring of 1997. During the 1997-1998 season, he returned to Montréal for a run of Madama Butterfly and led the Baltimore Opera’s presentation of Bizet’s Carmen. For the New Jersey State Opera, Maestro Silipigni conducted Puccini’s Turandot as the company made its house debut at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark) in February and March of 1998. During the 1999 season, in addition to productions of Andrea Chenier in February and Carmen in June at NJPAC, the Maestro’s schedule included a four performance run of Giordano’s Fedora in Mexico City, with Placido Domingo as Ipanov. Maestro Silipigni conducted these performances at the request of Mr. Domingo.

Maestro Silipigni conducted NJSOpera in performances of Puccini’s Aida and Tosca and, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the great composer’s death, Verdi’s Macbeth in 2001. In 2003, he returned to the podium to conduct New Jersey State Opera’s productions of Madama Butterfly in February and the double bill, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci in June. Most recently, the Maestro conducted fully staged and highly acclaimed productions of Lucia di Lammermoor with the reknowned soprano Sumi Jo, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Verdi's Il Trovatore. A production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut starring Aprille Milo and a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni were scheduled for the upcoming season.  He had recently returned from conducting seven sold-out performances La Traviata at the Palacio des Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Since 2003, Maestro Silipigni has conducted performances of Mascagni's Guglielmo Ratcliff, Giordano's La Cena delle Beffe and Leoncavallo's ZaZa starring Aprille Milo with Teatro Grattacielo at Alice Tully Hall, New York. He was to have conducted their performance of Zandonai's I CAVALIERI DI EKEBU on November 11, 2006.

In December 1999, Maestro Silipigni was made a Cavaliere in the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy by proclamation of the government of Italy.