Since my debut performance of Dvorak’s epic Concerto, I have kept honouring masterpieces such as the Shostakovich, Beethoven or Haydn concertos, but have also sought to breathe new life into hidden or forgotten gems by the likes of Wolf-Ferrari, Bruch or Thuille. My interest stretches from baroque to contemporary music, the latter including masters like Berio or Dutilleux and young, rising stars.

 Few things are as inspiring as sharing with audiences the joy of discovering or rediscovering pieces and composers, and I am currently focused on studying and rehearsing a handful of lesser known concertos for performances in 2015 and 2016.

 In approaching my solo work, I reject the conventional view of the orchestra as a background accompaniment to the soloist. Great interpretations happen when the orchestra plays as one of two equally important voices, whose careful blend is what the concerto form is all about.

Chamber music is my greatest and most enduring passion.

I have had the privilege to perform with amazing musicians and to learn throughout the years the deepest meanings of this music form. Being open to the others’ ideas, however different they may be. Supporting them. Bringing them to life. A lesson in humanity, not just music.

From duets to octets, in over twenty years I have had the opportunity to approach many masterpieces both in stable groups and occasional encounters at international festivals.
The former have allowed me to explore in depth; the latter, to experiment with freshness.

In 2005 I co-founded Estrio, which has become one of Italy’s most acclaimed piano trios. In 2013 I was invited to join the Accardo Quartet.

Every musician with whom I have played has enriched my experience, bringing in new ideas, individual views and the heritage of diverse schools, forcing me to look upon known things with different eyes  – and, quite often, to change my mind.

www.estrio.it

Since the beginning of my career I have worked with youth orchestras such as the European Community  Youth Orchestra and the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival Orchester –

high-profile, cosmopolitan contexts mixing musicians from the world over. Encountering diverse cultures, exchanging different ways to approach a repertoire, witnessing the love for music of great conductors made me grow passionate about orchestra playing.

My instrumental growth has allowed me to play as principal in chamber, symphony and opera orchestras. In each of these circumstances I have profited from my chamber music experience – the love for a shared project; the quest for a combination of the ideas of the conductor, the soloist, the singer and the cello section. And a single, cohesive sound pursued as a technical and artistic achievement, with no personal vision overshadowing the composer’s.

www.orchestradacameraitaliana.it

Thanks to the great teachers with whom I have studied, I can claim my alma mater to be the great European school – from Rocco Filippini’s French-influenced school to the noble Russian school of David Geringas; from the encounters with William Pleeth in London to my longer studies under the aegis of Mario Brunello, to the impact of Mihai Dancila and the Romanian school.

Such a diversity has enabled me to approach teaching almost twenty years ago with confidence and eagerness. As a paradox, teaching is where I keep learning the most.
Tackling each of my students’ difficulties, researching the repertoire, solving physical and psychological problems – all this has made teaching a cornerstone in my personal and professional development.

As a teacher, I am particularly focused on removing those physical barriers that hinder musical performance. My own problems as a child have translated into a special sensitivity
for obstacles which often derive from slight, but underestimated, flaws.

I have led several dozens of pupils all the way to successful exams. An enormously rewarding experience that has taught me to have the same patience that I demand of students.

www.istitutovittadini.it