Born in Italy in 1976, Ferdinando Mussutto graduated in piano with full marks from the conservatoire “J. Tomadini” in Udine at the age of 20. He subsequently attended several masterclasses for both solo and chamber repertoire, studying with Piero Rattalino, Walther Panhofer, Daniel Rivera, Trio di Parma. In 2001 he completed a two-year advanced course with Maestro Andrea Lucchesini at the Sesto Fiorentino’s School of Music, and one year later he completed the chamber music courses at the Trio di Trieste School of Music in Duino (Trieste), studying with Dario De Rosa, Maureen Jones and Enrico Bronzi, and obtaining a distinction degree.
He has won prizes both as a soloist and in ensemble in numerous national and international competitions, and he has performed as a soloist and in chamber ensembles around Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, China, Paraguay and Venezuela, always enjoying great acclaim both from the public and the critics. He has been involved in several music projects with theatres and musical establishments of Italy and in Austria, e.g. with the Ente Lirico “G. Verdi” of Trieste, the Orchestra FVG Mitteleuropa, the Festival “La Biennale Musica” in Venice, the “Accademia Ars Musicae” of Klagenfurt (Austria), the “CarinthiaArtis” Association and the Conservatoire “A. Steffani” of Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso), the Choir of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the “S. Cecilia Music Foundation of Portogruaro (Venice), the Orchestra “I Pomeriggi Musicali” of Milan, the Tallin Sinfonietta, and has collaborated with important italian soloist, e.g. with Domenico Nordio, Domenico Balzani, Lucio Degani, Gabriele Ragghianti, Federico Mondelci, Massimo Mercelli, Roberto Fabbriciani, Cheryl Porter, the Szabò String Quartet, and Nicola Mazzanti, piccolo soloist of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with whom, in 2016, he’s recorded a CD that will be soon released. During his career he recorded several CDs, among wich there’s a first-time recording of chamber works by the German composer Anton Schoendlinger (sonata for viola and piano and second sonata for violin and piano) for REALSOUND label. He frequently explores the contemporary and jazz-latin influenced composition as in the sax&piano CD’s “INTERSECTIONS” for ARTESUONO label.
In December 2002 he won the selection for a piano accompanist at the conservatoire “A. Steffani” of Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso) and held this position for four years, practising a lot of chamber repertory for strings and winds. In 2009 he was invited to teach in a Piano Master-Class for the students of “A. Lopez” Music School in Caracas; he teaches piano, armony and music theory since 20 years, and a lot of his students won prices in piano competitions and achieved best marks in piano conservatory exams. In 2010 the “Carinthia Artis” Association (Austria) gave him the “Carinthicum Price” for the high artistic concert activity in Carinthia. In the same year he created a cycle of concert-lessons entitled “Chopin, the poet-pianist”, playing the more significant compositions and explaining the main stilistic lines of the composer in relations to his biography, reaching a great success among the public. He’s the leader of the Ensemble “Piano Twelve”, a group of twelve pianists playing original arrangements for twelve pianos, whose concerts have drawn a lot a public in Lugano Congress Center (CH), Milano’s Expo, and Palazzo Pitti in Florence. He’s often member of jury in many piano competition and scholarship’s assignments for development of young artists.
Gian Luca Sfriso. He completed his musical studies at the B.Marcello Conservatory where he graduated with highest honors under the guidance of Gabriella Ghiro. Perfecting his studies with Gino Gorini and for composition with Ugo Amendola. In 1988 he won the second prize and a scholarship at the “Premio Venezia” and participated in a master class with J. Achucarro in Spain. He participated in the project of making a complete recording of Malipiero’s piano works for Ares in Verona at the request of the Fondazione Malipiero. He has given numerous concerts as a soloist and in various chamber ensembles always reporting success with audiences and critics. He has attended chamber music masterclasses with F. Rossi, D. Asciolla and G. Carmignola whose piano collaborator he was at the master classes in Belluno in 1991. He played with the orchestra Sinfonietta Veneta (dir. E.Gracis) for the tribute concert to Gino Gorini at the Apollinee halls of the Teatro La Fenice and with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. In 1996 he performed in piano duo at the Festival ‘900 in Trento ” The little sweep ” by B.Britten, co-produced by Teatro la Fenice and the Conservatory of Venice. In a duo with the violinist Stefano Pagliari he attended masterclasses with Franco Gulli in Trieste, and at the Accademia Chigiana with R.Brengola. He also attended another masterclass for three years with Pier Narciso Masi at the Accademia musicale di Firenze; he studies under his guidance a solo repertoire too.
He participated in tourneès with the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana playing with Giuliano Carmignola, Stefano Zanchetta, Markus Stockhausen with whom he recorded for Rai Radio3 the Jolivet Concerto for piano trumpet and strings. With the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana he also performed, and recorded for Rai Radio3: G.Kancheli’s “Diplipito” with Mario Brunello, Emanuele Segre and Claudio Cavina; with the direction of Gunther Pichler in the presence of the composer. He plays in a duo with cellist Aya Shimura and together they studied for several years with Franco Rossi. During 2003 the duo successfully performed in the “I nuovi Interpreti” of the Bologna Festival and at the “Festival delle Nazioni” in Città di Castello.
With Mario Brunello and an ensemble of the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana he played for the inauguration (Sept. 2006) of the Teatro Naturale di Arte Sella (TN) performing Giovanni Sollima’s SPASIMO in the original version for cello, string trio, percussion and electronic keyboard, replicated in 2010 for the Stresa International Festival, and in 2011 for the Scarlatti’s season in Naples and in 2015 at the Villa Adriana Festival in Tivoli. With the contralto Giovanna Dissera Bragadin and baritone Giuseppe Piazza he performed the entire Mahlerian cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn in October 2010 at the Venetian palace of Ca’ Rezzonico. In 2012 he played at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza for the show “Chanson en scene” conceived by Marco Bellussi, with baritone Giuseppe Piazza
Ulrik Vesti is a pianist and improvisor with a diploma from The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus, and further studies from the Art of Practicing Institute in New York. For years he has had extensive concert activity both as a soloist and accompanist, and furthermore released several recordings with his own compositions. On a daily basis he works as an accompanist at the Royal Danish Theatre, as well as Tivoli Ballet Theatre in Copenhagen.