“Since his Master graduation, I have seen Paolo Gorini develop as a ​strong power in the interpretation and creation of new music, in- ​and outside The Netherlands. He is very present in concert life, and ​his performances are strong and always fully dedicated to his ​chosen repertoire.”

“This capacity for synthesis, combined with an excellent free and ​curious musical culture, makes Paolo a true composer; his music ​creates a bond with the listeners and enfolds and surprises them [...]”

News

Night (e)scape is a 7-part piece for voice, keyboards and electronics. It ​was written for soprano Elisabeth Hetherington and premièred in May ​2023 at Oranjewoud Festival (NL)

We made it into a sort of movie thanks to Michal Gryco (Gryco films). ​Very happy that the project got some recognition!

Please head to the Projects section to know more about this music and ​to enjoy the movie 🎬

If you are in The Netherlands on November 9th 2024, you can join ​Elisabeth and I at November Music festival where we will play this piece.

Info and tickets ➡️ November Music’s official website

INTRO

My story

I come from a small village that looks upon a small lake in North Italy. Landscape ​artists Christo & Jean-Claude made it super famous back in 2016 with their work ​'Floating Piers'. My first piano teacher ever was my grandfather Angelo; he ​probably taught me the most important thing: "Paolo, to be a musician, you need ​the 3 Ps: Patience, Passion and Perseverance." So true.

So, off I went to the nearest 'big city'—Brescia—to attend high school and the ​conservatoire. I was the unconventional teenager madly in love with classical ​music, my portable CD player (yes, I grew up with one of those) blasting ​Rachmaninov, Chopin, Beethoven, and all the gang.

The more I learned the black-and-white terrain of the piano, the more I wanted ​to 'just play'. So, I got myself a basic audio recorder and started improvising. ​What a feeling! I was creating music on the spot.

I humbly and shyly handed these 'experiments' to composer Mauro Montalbetti, ​who visited my high school for a series of lectures. I was very interested to get ​his feedback and to know whether there was something I could build upon.

He did see something. He invited me to start taking composition ​classes with him, so I did. I learned how to read an orchestral score, ​the orchestration tricks and how to translate on paper (yes, the ​physical sheet music with pencil and rubber eraser at hand) the ​whirlwind of my imagination.

During those weekly meetings, I discovered what is referred to as ​'Contemporary music': the music of living people. A new door opened ​in front of me; there was so much to discover, listen to, and learn! ​Every composer paints a different sound world, and I was eager to ​get my hands on that. I became the best friends of the librarians of all ​the conservatoires I attended, and I explored the dark corner shelves ​where the "contemporary music repertoire" was patiently collecting ​dust.

Okay, what about the piano, then? Montalbetti suggested I go to Milan to play for Andrea Rebaudengo, a contemporary music ​specialist and the pianist of Ensemble Sentieri Selvaggi. That was another pivotal encounter as I started to use my piano skills to ​serve the music of "now," and I had the chance to play a few times with a professional ensemble such as Sentieri Selvaggi.

Milano was the place to be after my " classical-oriented" bachelor's degree in Brescia. I enrolled in the Chamber Music Master's ​degree, got to play with many great fellow students, and even landed in one of the most prestigious contemporary music ​festivals called Milano Musica, playing Bruno Maderna's "Concerto for 2 pianos and instruments": what a ride!

I was in my early 20s then, with all the excitement and stamina that goes along with it. I was traveling two or three times per ​week between Milano and Brescia, practising like crazy, attending concerts in the city, and throwing parties in my one-bedroom ​apartment.

At this point, Montalbetti's wisdom kicked in again: "Paolo, I think you should go study abroad." Okay, that's a giant leap, but I ​took that step. At the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, there is this 'Master in Piano with New Music specialisation', which ​seemed perfect for me. "Bye, Mum and Dad. I will live in Amsterdam for a couple of years". That was almost nine years ago!

My first public appearance in a concert setting in Amsterdam ​was with the Score Collective Ensemble of the CvA in the ​Kleinezaal of Concertgebouw: quite a start!

Besides one project as a soloist in Elliot Carter's Double ​Concerto, my time in The Netherlands has been dedicated to ​collaborations. I felt so lucky to meet, engage with, play with, and ​hang out with so many people from all over the world: a great ​lesson in cultural exchange.

Several projects bloomed during my time in the "Venice of North" ​(as some Italians call Amsterdam). If you want to know more ​about them, I suggest you look at the Section "Projects," where I ​discuss them in more professional detail.

As I look back on my journey from the peaceful little village to the bustling cities, I am grateful for the mentors, the musicians, ​and the moments that shaped my musical destiny. As I walk further down my artistic path, I carry the lessons of patience, ​passion, and perseverance that my grandfather infused in me—a legacy that echoes in every day of my life.

My music

Claudio Monteverdi, Luciano Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, ​Radiohead, Steve Reich, Herbie Hancock, Muse, Bill ​Evans, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Emerson, Lake & ​Palmer, Jon Hopkins... my taste in music has gone ​through a lot of phases and all of these can be heard, ​somehow, in my compositions. If I have to boil it down ​to some features, I like rhythmical drive, order, clarity, ​and sound design. However, Creativity is a strange ​beast, a chameleonic creature of our mind, slippery, ​transparent, continuously morphing in unexpected ​shapes, the lightest feather to grasp gently (if you can!).

Feel free to peruse the “catalog” below. If you want to ​listen, it’s best to head to the Listening booth section, ​but I will also leave some anchor links here and there.

Bigger stuff

Solo stuff

Chamber music with and without voice

Night (e)scape

Broken chain

Caligo Luminis

commissioned by “CidneOn ​Festival internazionale delle ​luci” - Brescia (IT)

It’s like...

Bigger stuff

My projects

Here we start unpacking the main projects I have been involved so far as performer, composer or both.

PRISMI

Clock Beats Heart Machine (piano and loop station)

Grid 3 (piano)

Seven colours of the night (piano, toy piano and melodica)

Beyond the sound’s mirror (piano - new version 2021)

Corpi Elettrici (seaboard)

The music of PRISMI attracts like a magnet what I find most interesting: rhythm ​and mechanism, the sonic world inside the piano, the space between sound and ​noise, the sound design technologies, the murmurs of the night.

This project bloomed during the dark pandemic times, I am glad I could find this ​creative anchor!

The whole set is roughly 60 minutes long, the video on the left shows the keyboards set ​up.

For more information about each piece, you can head here

Wanna listen? Great! Please head here

Generously supported by

Night (e)scape results from a deeper search inside my solo piece Seven ​Colours of the Night" whose creative and imaginative process has been ​one of the most challenging and inspiring in my artistic practice. Months ​after I finished Seven Colours of the Night, my imagination kept running ​to that world, and my notebook was still filled with numerous drafts, ​sketches, and ideas. Why not go back and give it another life, a different ​sound? Why not make the story more tangible using an actual text sung ​by a singer? Working on this topic profoundly affected me; it opened a ​precious and fruitful space in my artistic imagination that I wanted to ​explore further.

Generously supported by

Duo Ebano

Duo Ebano's journey began with the friendship of Marco Danesi, ​an exceptionally skilled clarinettist and fantastic person. ​Although we are from the same city (Brescia) and studied at the ​same school (Milan's Conservatoire), I officially met Marco in ​2015 when I started my master's in Amsterdam.

Our contrasting personalities maintain a balance in our ​approach to making music, encouraging each other to strive for ​higher and higher standards.

Our musical collaboration began officially in 2016 with low-​profile concerts organised by the CvA. Over the years, we ​gained some recognition in The Netherlands and abroad ​(Storioni Toonzaal prijs 2018, 1st prize Salieri-Zinetti ​competition in Verona—IT, and the Dutch Classical Talent Tour ​2019/2020).

Both of us are involved in new music, and we strive to be ​creative in the programs we propose.

For more info, please head to our website: www.duoebano.com

To listen Duo Ebano’s playing, please head to the “Listening booth” section

Ensemble Resilience

"As soon as I get to Amsterdam, I will create a new music group". ​This was my loop thought when packing my suitcase: a one-way ​ticket in my hand and the joyful thrill of beginning a new ​adventure.

Duo Ebano played a crucial role in the birth of Ensemble ​Resilience; Marco involved London-based composer Gerardo ​Gozzi, who introduced me to the mind-bending midi-controller ​Seaboard. Gerardo looped in composer and sound artist Pablo ​Galaz, a one-of-the-kind electronics wizard who inspired me to ​explore digital sound manipulations and embrace my "nerd side".

Ensemble Resilience's core instrumentation features ​piano/Seaboard, clarinets, violin, and MATER. So what exactly is ​MATER? It is an experimental hybrid percussion instrument ​initially developed by percussionist Lorenzo D'Erasmo and sound ​designer Jacopo Biffi.

Between 2019 and 2021, Ensemble Resilience premièred around ​20 pieces; I consider it a great win! But we are not stopping here. ​There are more things in the pipeline. For further information, ​please visit our website: www.ensembleresilience.com

For a videos’ selection, head to the Listening booth section

Watch and listen

Here you can enjoy some audio-visual documentation of my projects. For more content, you can follow the various ​YouTube links you will bump into.

NIGHT (E)SCAPE

Video clip

During the creative process of this music, I had a ​complementary idea to create a video clip for each ​chapter. My vision was to end up with a sort of ​movie that would enhance the overall musical ​narrative.

This videography project was made in collaboration ​with Michal Gryco.

For the single songs, you can jump to my YT Channel

Audio recording

Please keep checking your favourite streaming ​service. Around November I will publish an audio ​recording of this music, so you can enjoy it ​anywhere anytime!

Meanwhile you can listen on Soundcloud

PRISMI

PRISMI

2020-2022

My first solo album is available as digital release. ​Choose your favorite streaming service.

Published by Limen Music - December 2023

Recording studio: Officine Meccaniche (Milano) – 2023

Recording, mix and mastering: Michele Forzani

Mobile

DUO EBANO

Blackbird (R)evolution

TRPTK 2020

Carl Maria von Weber - Gran Duo Concertante

Alban Berg - Vier Stücke op. 4

Paolo Gorini - Broken chain

Johannes Brahms - Intermezzo op. 117 n 1 (arranged for clarinet and piano)

Boris Bezemer - I Love You (for bass clarinet and Seaboard)

Gerardo Gozzi - The Underwater Life of a Bass Clarinet (for bass clarinet and Seaboard)

Concert recordings

One of the most exilerating and fun pieces from ​our Dutch Classical Talent tour was, without ​doubt, the medley of Frank Zappa’s tunes made by ​Andrea Chenna. Enjoy!

Live from Tivoli Vredenburg (Utrecht) January ​2020

Other Video recordings

ENSEMBLE RESILIENCE

Other Audio/Video recordings

Through out my career I had the pleasure to work with inspiring ​musicians and composers.

In this section you can enjoy some published and unpublished ​recordings of my collaborations.

SHI

Opera by Carlo Boccadoro and libretto by Cecilia Ligorio

Live from Teatro Rossi - Macerata - 2017

Video recording available here

In the hot summer of Macerata (IT) I spent almost one month ​working as corepetitor and ensemble pianist for this intriguing and ​challenging opera production.

More info about the project: EMA VINCI contemporanea

Effervesce

by Gregory Glancey

for flute and piano (with Rogier Pijper)

Ravello Records - 2023

Rogier Pijper is the reference point in The Netherlands when it comes ​to extended techniques on flute. I was honoured to receive his ​invitation to record Effervesce by Gregory Glancey (member of the ​Berkley University faculty). His music is very dynamic and colourful, I ​never heard the flute making such sounds! The piano part is ​challenging but fun, with a thoughtful use of extended techniques ​inside the instrument.

Fossils

by Arnold Marinissen

for piano and live electronics

Concertello records - 2021

Composer and performer Arnold Marinissen invited me to record his ​new piece for piano and live-electronics, how exciting!

This piece is part of his PhD research around the composition of ​concert music in the Digital Workstation environment.

Ecce Homo

CidneOn Light Festival 2018

Castello di Brescia

Project by: Scena Urbana

When I got the call from the artistic director of ​the CidneOn Festival to write a new piece to ​accompany a video mapping project, I was very ​excited! The theme was a paint of Moretto, pivot ​figure of the Renaissance art. Drawing ​inspiration from Marenzio's madrigals, I wrote a ​3-part song that weaved in snippets from the ​texts that Marenzio himself used in his ​compositions. The stunning video mapping was ​expertly brought to life by Scena Urbana.

Thus, my piece Caligo Luminis was born, you ​can enjoy the video recording on your left.

(the actual piece starts at 01:49)

Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a Prepared Piano, No.1

This must have been the craziest project I ​have been involved so far: playing upside ​down!

The reaction of the audience was priceless.

“We’re asking the musicians to reinvent their ​skills, or to use their skills to make new ​gestures or forms that are not part of their ​standard vocabulary,” the artists have said. ​“And this idea of re-skilling doesn’t end with ​the performer. The public is asked to re-skill ​its way of viewing.”

Agenda

Electronic Press Kit

Contacts