Pietro Ballo
Pietro Ballo (born October 2, 1952 in Palermo), is an Italian operatic tenor singer. He came from a family of laborers, working then himself in a quarry in Sicily before changing his professional orientation toward music. He enrolled into the school of singing at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, then his operatic career started near the end of the 1980s, mostly in Italy, at various opera stages as well in concert halls.
During the 1970s he moved to Milan where he made his debut in such a role as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. He sang then roles of Rodolfo in La Bohème, Italian singer in Der Rosenkavalier, and Roland in Esclarmonde (Teatro Massimo, January 1993).
He made an impressive American television appearance in the Luciano Pavarotti specials of the 1990s "Pavarotti + Plus" singing with Shirley Verrett among others.