Donato D'Antonio - Classical Guitar
The Zürich-born Donato D'Antonio is a versatile figure in contemporary Italian music life: concert guitarist, educator, cultural organizer, and artistic director. His artistic activity is characterized by an openness to heterogeneous repertoires—from ancient to contemporary music, from classical to ethnical music—along with a pronounced tendency toward interdisciplinary collaboration with other arts such as theater, literature, and fine arts. His training began with a guitar diploma with top grades at the Conservatory "Bruno Maderna" in Cesena, followed by numerous internationally renowned master courses, including the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg with Pepe Romero and the Accademia Pianistica di Imola in the chamber music class of Pier Narciso Masi. He completed his academic education at the Conservatory "G. B. Martini" in Bologna, where he finished the two-year second-cycle specialization in guitar under the direction of Walter Zanetti with top grades and an award for the dissertation "Manuel de Falla - Homenaje pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy." As a musician, he has gained artistic experience in classical, ethnical, and contemporary fields, leading to solo performances and with established chamber music ensembles in concert halls and theaters across Europe, the USA, Japan, Central and South America, Canada, the Far East, and North Africa, on the occasion of festivals, concert series, and major concert seasons. His artistic versatility is reflected in a wide range of collaborations: he is a member of the ensembles Open Quartet, Trio and Quartetto Ottocento, Tango Tres, and Grupo Candombe, and regularly performs in a duo with violinist Roberto Noferini, flutist Vanni Montanari, guitarists Tiit Peterson and Marko Feri, the Schubert-specialist baritone Hartmut Schulz, pianist Matteo Ramon Arevalos, the Apollon String Quartet, the Ensemble Contemporaneo Scaligero, and the Modern Sarti Ensemble. Dialogue with the music of our time is a fundamental aspect of his work: he has collaborated with top international instrumentalists such as Sharon Isbin, Gustavo Costa, Massimo Mercelli, Saša Dejanović, and Maurizio Barbetti, as well as numerous contemporary composers, including René Eespere, Shafer Mahoney, Aurelio Samorì, Azio Corghi, Marco Biscarini, Paolo Geminiani, Daniele Furlati, Rossella Spinosa, Gianluca Baldi, Rubens Russomanno Ricciardi, Martin Queraltó, Lucas Galon, Hidehiko Hinohara, Fausto Razzi, Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Andrea Talmelli, and Mauro Montalbetti. His commitment to contemporary music is evidenced by dozens of premieres and concerts broadcast by national broadcasters such as RAI Radio 3, Radio Nacional Argentina, Radio Slovenija Uno, Radio Koper Capodistria, RSI Radiotelevisione italiana (in Italian), and Radio Polska 1, contributing to the expansion of the 21st-century guitar repertoire. His discography includes recordings for the labels Mobydick, ERP, Borgatti, Materiali Sonori, RMN Music, Tactus, and Ema Vinci Label. Openness to interdisciplinary forms of expression led him to participate in readings and theater performances with writers, actors, and performers, including the late Roberto Freak Antoni, confirming his vocation for dialogue between the arts. Teaching represents another fundamental dimension of his artistic engagement. He has been a "Guest Professor" at international academic institutions such as Columbus State University, Penn State University, and Susquehanna University in the United States, as well as at the USP University in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Additionally, he has held numerous masterclasses in Italy, Finland, and Canada as part of highly qualified guitar courses, training new generations of instrumentalists. As a cultural organizer, D'Antonio has significantly contributed to the development of musical life in Romagna by conceiving and leading numerous concert series and festivals that brought internationally renowned artists to museums and theaters of special prestige. He currently serves as Vice President of Associazione Emilia Romagna Festival, Secretary General of Fondazione Angelo Masini, musical curator of the International Ceramic Museum and the Carlo Zauli Museum in Faenza, and coordinates the artistic and didactic activities of the local municipal music school "G. Sarti." He is also a lecturer in classical guitar at the state music high school "Antonio Canova" in Forlì and contributes to the musical training of new generations within the Italian public school system.
The Zürich-born Donato D'Antonio is a versatile figure in contemporary Italian music life: concert guitarist, educator, cultural organizer, and artistic director. His artistic activity is characterized by an openness to heterogeneous repertoires—from ancient to contemporary music, from classical to ethnical music—along with a pronounced tendency toward interdisciplinary collaboration with other arts such as theater, literature, and fine arts. His training began with a guitar diploma with top grades at the Conservatory "Bruno Maderna" in Cesena, followed by numerous internationally renowned master courses, including the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg with Pepe Romero and the Accademia Pianistica di Imola in the chamber music class of Pier Narciso Masi. He completed his academic education at the Conservatory "G. B. Martini" in Bologna, where he finished the two-year second-cycle specialization in guitar under the direction of Walter Zanetti with top grades and an award for the dissertation "Manuel de Falla - Homenaje pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy." As a musician, he has gained artistic experience in classical, ethnical, and contemporary fields, leading to solo performances and with established chamber music ensembles in concert halls and theaters across Europe, the USA, Japan, Central and South America, Canada, the Far East, and North Africa, on the occasion of festivals, concert series, and major concert seasons. His artistic versatility is reflected in a wide range of collaborations: he is a member of the ensembles Open Quartet, Trio and Quartetto Ottocento, Tango Tres, and Grupo Candombe, and regularly performs in a duo with violinist Roberto Noferini, flutist Vanni Montanari, guitarists Tiit Peterson and Marko Feri, the Schubert-specialist baritone Hartmut Schulz, pianist Matteo Ramon Arevalos, the Apollon String Quartet, the Ensemble Contemporaneo Scaligero, and the Modern Sarti Ensemble. Dialogue with the music of our time is a fundamental aspect of his work: he has collaborated with top international instrumentalists such as Sharon Isbin, Gustavo Costa, Massimo Mercelli, Saša Dejanović, and Maurizio Barbetti, as well as numerous contemporary composers, including René Eespere, Shafer Mahoney, Aurelio Samorì, Azio Corghi, Marco Biscarini, Paolo Geminiani, Daniele Furlati, Rossella Spinosa, Gianluca Baldi, Rubens Russomanno Ricciardi, Martin Queraltó, Lucas Galon, Hidehiko Hinohara, Fausto Razzi, Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Andrea Talmelli, and Mauro Montalbetti. His commitment to contemporary music is evidenced by dozens of premieres and concerts broadcast by national broadcasters such as RAI Radio 3, Radio Nacional Argentina, Radio Slovenija Uno, Radio Koper Capodistria, RSI Radiotelevisione italiana (in Italian), and Radio Polska 1, contributing to the expansion of the 21st-century guitar repertoire. His discography includes recordings for the labels Mobydick, ERP, Borgatti, Materiali Sonori, RMN Music, Tactus, and Ema Vinci Label. Openness to interdisciplinary forms of expression led him to participate in readings and theater performances with writers, actors, and performers, including the late Roberto Freak Antoni, confirming his vocation for dialogue between the arts. Teaching represents another fundamental dimension of his artistic engagement. He has been a "Guest Professor" at international academic institutions such as Columbus State University, Penn State University, and Susquehanna University in the United States, as well as at the USP University in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Additionally, he has held numerous masterclasses in Italy, Finland, and Canada as part of highly qualified guitar courses, training new generations of instrumentalists. As a cultural organizer, D'Antonio has significantly contributed to the development of musical life in Romagna by conceiving and leading numerous concert series and festivals that brought internationally renowned artists to museums and theaters of special prestige. He currently serves as Vice President of Associazione Emilia Romagna Festival, Secretary General of Fondazione Angelo Masini, musical curator of the International Ceramic Museum and the Carlo Zauli Museum in Faenza, and coordinates the artistic and didactic activities of the local municipal music school "G. Sarti." He is also a lecturer in classical guitar at the state music high school "Antonio Canova" in Forlì and contributes to the musical training of new generations within the Italian public school system.