Daniele Berdini - Saxophone

He graduated in Saxophone in 1991 from the “G. Pergolesi” Conservatory of Fermo, obtaining top marks with honours.
He has performed extensively both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, giving concerts for prestigious institutions and associations including Albatros, Agimus Roma, F e F Musica, Estate Musicale Irpinia, Ensemble Strumentale Fermano, FederBandeTrentine, and many others. In 1992 he was invited to perform as a soloist at the 10th World Saxophone Congress in Pesaro, where he played KYA by Giacinto Scelsi for saxophone and orchestra.

Since 1996 he has been founder and member of the Lost Cloud Quartet (Marco Bontempo – Soprano, Leonardo Sbaffi – Alto, Daniele Berdini – Tenor, Gianluca Pugnaloni – Baritone). With this ensemble he has appeared in major venues and festivals such as the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Osimo Opera Festival, RAI Rome, Filarmonica Romana, Filarmonica Laudamo, Amici della Musica di Palermo, Teatro Regio di Turin, Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome for Nuova Consonanza, Amici della Musica di Foggia, Festival d’Automne in Paris, Hebbel Theatre in Berlin, the Gesualdo Festival in Venosa, the Italian Cultural Institute in Strasbourg (2005), Les Amplitudes Festival in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland, 2006), the Salzburg Festival within Kontinent Sciarrino (2007), and the Salzburg Festspiele (2008).

In 1999, together with singer Amii Stewart, the quartet performed arrangements by Salvatore Sciarrino of madrigals by Gesualdo and other works at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.

In the field of contemporary music, he has given Italian premieres of works by Donatoni, Manzoni, and Perezzani, as well as the world premiere of La Bocca i Piedi il Suono by Salvatore Sciarrino, written especially for the Lost Cloud Quartet. Two further works by Sciarrino were dedicated to the ensemble: Pagine and Canzoniere da Scarlatti. Studi per l’intonazione del mare received its first performance in Città di Castello and was broadcast on RAISAT.

He is also a founder and member of the Novosaxensemble, a saxophone orchestra conducted by Maestro Angelo Bolciaghi, with which he has performed Pictures at an Exhibition by M. Mussorgsky and The Rite of Spring by I. Stravinsky, including a tour in South Korea in September 2015.

For many years he has collaborated with Sergio Capoferri in a duo with accordion, performing in Italy and abroad.

In competitions, he won the first edition of the T.I.M. Prize (International Music Tournament of Rome). He ranked first overall in auditions for the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio of Turin, Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza, the Civica Orchestra di Fiati of Milan, and the OFSI (Orchestra di Fiati della Svizzera Italiana), with which he also collaborates as a soloist. In 2006 he won, as a conductor, the prestigious “La Bacchetta d’Oro” prize at the National Band Competition in Frosinone, also obtaining First Prize Overall with the Corpo Bandistico Città di Rapagnano. Further awards followed in national band competitions between 2006 and 2017, including prizes at Tommaso Albani (Monterosi), Flicorno d’Oro(Riva del Garda), and Bacchetta d’Oro.

From 1994 to 1996 he held the saxophone chair at the “S. Giacomantonio” Conservatory of Cosenza; since 1996 he has taught at the “U. Giordano” Conservatory of Foggia.

He has taught advanced courses for the Veniano Wind Orchestra, collaborated with FeBaTi (Federazione Bandistica Ticinese) as an examiner, and since 2005 has been a saxophone instructor at the FEBACO summer courses. Since 1995 he has also taught advanced courses for the Giovanile Orchestra di Fiati in Ripatransone (AP). He regularly gives masterclasses in Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta, Sardinia, and Lombardy.

Ensembles

Kiver Ensemble
Lost Cloud Quartet

Selected Recordings

Scaramouche – Berdini / Capoferri (CD, 2017)
Salvatore Sciarrino: La Bocca i Piedi il Suono – Lost Cloud Quartet (CD/DVD, Col Legno)
Euro Teodori: Grandine – Concerto per Fiati – D. Berdini (Sax) & Quintetto Mélange d’Âges (CD, Not.A.Mi., 2010)
Paolo Carlome: Landscapes (CD, Rai Trade)
Paolo Carlome: Saxseus – Daniele Berdini, saxophones (CD, Rai Trade, 2008)
Sax Chorus (CD)
Ensemble Italiano di Sassofoni (CD, RCA)