After graduating at a very early age with honours from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, Rome, she won a number of competitions as a soloist (including Manta '87), while taking part in numerous concerts as a harpist. She made her debut in Rome in 1989 in the role of Monica in Medium by Giancarlo Menotti at the Teatro della Cometa.
She also graduated with honours in singing, studying under Franca Como, then continued her studies with sopranos Margaret Baker and Mietta Sighele. In 1991, she won the Viareggio Madama Butterfly competition and the Mattia Battistini competition and made her debut as Mimi in
La Bohème at the Teatro di Rieti (conducted by M. Rinaldi). That same year, she opened the Todi Festival playing the lead in
Suor Angelica (conducted by F. Cellini). In 1992 Giancarlo Menotti chose her to sing in Il Duca D'Alba by Donizetti, opening the Charleston Festival, South Carolina (USA) in May and then in June, the 35th Festival del Due Mondi, Spoleto. The production was later staged at the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, conducted by Alberto Maria Giuri.
In 1995 she sang at the Teatro Regio, Parma, playing the role of the Contessa Madeleine in
Capriccio by Richard Strauss, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. In the autumn of 1996, she made her debut in the leading role in
Manon Lescaut at the Teatro del Giglio, Lucca, conducted by G. Kuhn, a production later staged at Pisa's Teatro Verdi.
In 1997, with Rossini's Stabat Mater conducted by Bruno Aprea, she opened the season at the Auditorium del Massimo, Rome, and played the lead in the original version of
Lucia di Lammermoor at Bergamo's Teatro Donizetti; in July 1998 she made her debut as Freia in
Das Rheingold at the Erl Festival in the Tyrol conducted by G. Kuhn, a production later staged at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, and recorded on CD (BMG Arte Nova). At Erl the following season she made her debut in G. Verdi's
Messa da Requiem (recorded by BMG Arte Nova).
In 1999, she sang Liù in
Turandot opening the Radiotre opera season; at the Festival dei Presidi she played Nedda in
Pagliacci and Lauretta in
Gianni Schicchi alongside Giuseppe Taddei and conducted by Nicola Giusti. In 1999, for the Metastasio celebrations, she played the lead in
Giuseppe Riconosciuto by P. Anfossi broadcast by RAISAT and recorded on CD (Bongiovanni), a production staged again in May 2000 in Vienna together with the first full modern performance of
Passione di Cristo by Salieri (Maddalena) conducted by Giovanni Pelliccia (CD Fonè). In 2002 she played Magda in
La Rondine at the Verona Teatro Filarmonico, Contessa in
Capriccio at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, and the Prima Corifea in
L'Assassinio nella Cattedrale conducted by Bruno Bartoletti at Parma's Teatro Regio.
Her 2003 commitments include: Liù in
Turandot at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice and Prima Corifea in
L'Assassinio nella Cattedrale at the Teatro dell'Opera, Rome, both conducted by Bruno Bartoletti. For 2005 she has already been confirmed for Donna Elvira in a production of
Don Giovanni at Turin's Teatro Regio.
In 2001, Michela Sburlati recorded an edition of
Verdi's Requiem, issued by BMG and conducted by Gustav Kuhn.
March 2003