Clarinet: Pietro Tagliaferri
 
Pietro Tagliaferri graduated from the “G. Nicolini” Conservatory of Piacenza having earned the highest possible grades, studying clarinet with G. Parmigiani. He continued his studies at the Chigiana Musical Academy of Siena, earning his Diploma di Merito, and at the International Academy of Biella under the tutelage of Anthony Pay. He also earned a degree in musicology summa cum laude at the School of Musical Paleography and Philology of Cremona.
 
Winner of numerous national and international competitions, he maintains an impressive schedule of concerts, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, in Italy and abroad. The following composers have written works expressly for him: G. Zanaboni, G. Cataldo, M. Berzolla, N. Campogrande, P. Marrone, G. Donati, K. De Pastel, L. Polato, S. Amato, G. Salvatori. He has made numerous recordings for Fonit Cetra, Rusty Records, Millenio, Bottega Discantica, Stradivarius, and Cdpm Lions Records and has recorded for the radio on Rai Radiouno. He published many compositions for Eufonia, Stradivarius and Idea Rpoduzioni Musicali editions.
 
From an early age, he also dedicated himself to studying the saxophone, distinguishing himself with numerous groups, both classical and jazz, including Saxensemble and the project Riverberi, first with Margherita Sciddurlo and presently with Stefano Pellini. For these he received notable success from the press and public alike.
 
Mr. Tagliaferri carries out research on behalf of the Monteverdi Foundation of Cremona and the San Cristoforo Diocesan Institute for Sacred Music of Piacenza. From 1991-2005 he was musical consultant for Mediaset channels, particularly for the Filarmonica della Scala concerts, and he worked prodigiously as producer and sound engineer in the recording industry. Since 2005, Pietro Tagliaferri has dedicated himself to directing. In 2006 he was entrusted with directing “Mozart Ways 2006”: eleven concerts produced by Multigram Communications, with artists of the highest calibre such as Thiollier, Prosseda, Cominati, Giordano, Nosé, Kravtchenko, and Romanosky. This program has been transmitted on the “Classical” channel SKY, since October 2007. In April 2008, Mediaset entrusted him with directing Zubin Mehta’s concert with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. Since 2009 he has been director and producer of the TV recordings of the Filarmonica della Scala under Musicom.it S.r.l. Also, since 2012, he has served as director for the live, world-wide broadcasts of symphonic shows from La Scala in Milan. Having won the ministerial competition of exams and merits, he teaches clarinet at the Conservatory of Piacenza. Pietro Tagliaferri plays a Patricola clarinet.
 

Piano: Francesco Attesti
 
Francesco Attesti (Cortona, June 6, 1975) is an Italian pianist of international acclaim. Among his generation of musicians, he is considered one of the finest interpreters of the Romantic and early Twentieth Century Repertoire.
 
He began practicing the piano at the age of 6 and gave his first concert at 11, performing a transcription of the Toccata and Fugue in d minor by J. S. Bach. When Francesco was 16, he met Sergio Perticaroli who, impressed by the youth’s capabilities at the piano, invited him to attend the Summer Master class at the Mozarteum of Salzburg. There, Francesco was immersed in the Romantic repertoire, particularly the works of Chopin and Liszt. He continued to study with Maestro Perticaroli for several years in Rome, refining his skills and winning several national and international piano competitions, including: Ibla Grand Prize International, F.I.D.A.P.A. Competition, Città di Racconigi, Migliori Diplomati d’Italia, Rovere d’Oro, Città di Cesenatico. The Swiss Ursula Stroher Stiftung sponsorship for talented young people was conferred on Francesco Attesti from 2003-2005.
 
In 1998, studying with Maestro Luigi Tanganelli at the “L. Cherubini” Conservatory of Florence, Francesco earned the highest grades in piano bestowed by that institution. Soon thereafter, he attended master classes with Jacques Rouvier (1998) and Hector Moreno (1999, 2000). With Maestro Moreno, he explored the chamber repertoire for piano, as well as several contemporary composers.
 
Francesco’s first opportunity to record a CD came in 1998 when the “Rugginenti Editore” label asked him to record contemporary music, the text being Edoardo Sanguineti’s poetry. Since then, there have been many recordings on several labels, such as “Agorà”, “Max Research”, “Drycastle”. Some have been collaborations with such contemporary composers as Silvia Bianchera Bettinelli, Biagio Putignano, Raoul De Smet. The epitome of Francesco’s collaborative work to date is his performance with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague, performing the Italian premiere of “Chiavi in Mano” by the Pulitzer Prize winning composer Yehudi Wyner.
 
In 2007, together with organist, colleague and friend Matteo Galli, he published the first recording of Verdi’s Requiem, transcribed for piano and organ, on the “Le Voci della Citta” label. At the beginning of 2008, Francesco produced a CD on the “Drycastle” label called “Feeling Chopin”. That work was devoted entirely to the great Polish composer. In 2013, with “Drycastle”, he published a new CD, “Virtuoso Sentimento”, with works by Bach, Schubert and Beethoven. The last year, with the same label, he published a CD with clarinet player Pietro Tagliaferri entitled “900, French repertoire for clarinet and piano.” In 2012 he was awarded as "Artist changing lives" by the city of Edinburg (Texas - USA) and the city of Diamante (Argentina) conferred him the honorary citizenship. In 2013, McAllen (Texas - USA), and in 2015 the city of Hornell (New York – USA) conferred him the "Key to the City" for his artistry and human skills.
 
Always drawn to the perfection of phrasing and the sound of the instrument, he has developed very special and unique expressions. Maestro Perticaroli himself has said:  “Francesco Attesti’s piano playing is unusual. Everything that happens in the sound, in the phrasing, and in the musical conception, starts from an aesthetic and musical conviction and it brings the performance out of every formal and consumistic prevision.”
 
Currently, Francesco Attesti performs regularly in internationally prestigious concert halls like: Philharmonia Hall of Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, Mozarteum of Salzburg, Philharmonie Essen, International Piano Festival of Warsaw, Sarajevo Winter Festival, Cambridge University, Leicester University, Columbia University in New York, Denver University in Colorado, and the Conservatory “G. Verdi” in Milan.