Born in Turin, Massimiliano Pisapia undertook advanced studies under the guidance of Franco Corelli. He made his début as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Fraschini di Pavia. Since then he has appeared in the most important international theatres, including La Scala, Milan, the Opernhaus, Zurich, the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, the State Opera, Hamburg, the Opernhaus, Leipzig, the Colón, Buenos Aires, the Maggio Musicale, Florence, the Carlo Felice, Genoa, the Regio, Turin, the Massimo, Palermo, the Arena, Verona, the Verdi, Trieste, the Regio, Parma and the Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago, with a repertory which includes Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, La bohème, Un ballo in maschera, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Roberto Devereux, L’elisir d’amore, Gianni Schicchi, La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor. Active also in the concert hall, he has sung in Rossini’s Stabat Mater (Milan, Zurich, Einsiedeln), Dvořák’s Stabat Mater (Verona), Verdi’s Requiem (Cagliari) and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Cagliari). He has collaborated with such conductors as Antonello Allemandi, Bruno Bartoletti, Riccardo Chailly, Daniel Oren and Stefano Ranzani. In November 2007 he made his début at the Vienna State Opera in Un ballo in maschera, with 2007/08 season appearances in Simon Boccanegra in Hamburg, Roberto Devereux and Un ballo in maschera at the Bavarian State Opera and Gianni Schicchi in Frankfurt.

Massimiliano Pisapia's repertoire includes Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Rodolfo in La boheme (Puccini), Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller, Macduff in Macbeth (Verdi),  Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), the title role in Les Contes d' Hoffmann (Offenbach) and many other roles. He performs regularly at La Scala in Milan as well as in the opera houses of Zurich, Munich, Hamburg, Buenos Aires, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Palermo, Arena di Verona, Trieste, Santiago de Chile, Valencia, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Leipzig and many others.