Overview
In Aria is a 45-minute exploration of sound, gesture and meaning that, with the help of new technologies, attempts to expand the instrumental, musical and dramatic boundaries of the percussionist. Revolving around music that has already been composed specifically for the event by Elvis Sammoutis and Vincent Carinola, percussionist Claudio Bettinelli will strive to communicate with the surrounding environment by combining improvised and composed material, creating situations where random objects and space dictate their own rules and act as leading actors in order to accomplish their own acoustic and expressive functions. The performance will take place on Sunday 7 October 2018, at The Shoe Factory, 20:30, as part of the 10th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival.
CLAUDIO BETTINELLI theremin
A graduate of the Jonathan Faralli Course of Percussion Instruments in Livorno and of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Lyon, Claudio Bettinelli is considered amongst the most exciting and sought-after percussionists in the European contemporary scene.
At the International Music Competition of Geneva, Bettinelli was awarded the Special Award for Instrument Originality and earned the Jury’s special mention for Programme Originality for his artistic research. He subsequently collaborated for three consecutive years with UBS International Youth Symphonic Orchestra of Verbier (Switzerland) and the Italian Youth Orchestra.
Currently, Claudio Bettinelli is the solo percussionist of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, under the direction of Daniel Kawka, the percussionist of the ensemble C-Barré, under the direction of Sebastien Boin, and he collaborates with the Ensemble Musicatreize, under the direction of Roland Hayrabedian. He has appeared in prestigious international festivals where he has premiered dozens of works by contemporary composers, and he frequently performs for Radio France, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Présence, 38e Rugissants, amongst others, collaborating as a soloist with a number of composers, including Vincent Raphaël Carinola and Zad Moultaka, with whom he has created several shows as part of the collective Mezwej.
Bettinelli’s musical curiosity allows him to perform activities in classical, contemporary, musical theatre, improvisation and electronic music. He created the music for Fragile on the Edge and Cath 22, choreographed by Jasna Vinovrski, as well as Energy and Kismet choreographed by Ziya Azazi. His pedagogical research has led him to collaborations with various academic, social and musical institutions, where he focuses on the interaction between music and information technology, gestures and musical improvisation.
Claudio Bettinelli has recorded several albums including a monograph by Boulez that received the “Golden Tuning Fork” Critics Award.
