Artistic Direction

Marco Somadossi was born in Rovereto, Italy, in 1968. He studied music at the Conservatory “F. A. Bonporti” in Trento, where he graduated with degrees in Trombone Performance and Instrumentation for Band with Daniele Carnevali. He continued his musical education in Tilburg (Netherlands), where he completed a doctorate in Conducting and Composition for Wind Band with honourable mention. Additionally, he studied composition with Stephen Melillo (USA) and James Barnes (USA), and conducting with Jan Cober (Netherlands), Felix Hauswirth (Switzerland) and Jo Conjaerts (Netherlands). After an intense performance career, he has committed exclusively to composing and conducting wind bands and other instrumental ensembles. Often invited as guest conductor in renowned music festival in Italy and abroad, Somadossi is also a much-invited lecturer and director of conducting courses. He has been the director of the Wind Band “Mario Mascagni'' of Bolzano, and he is currently the conductor of the Wind Band of Albiano (Trento), the Youth Wind Band of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the Youth Wind Orchestra of the Lazio Region. His compositions, published by Scomegna Music Editions, have been selected as compulsory pieces by some of the most recognized performance competitions in Italy and Europe and have been performed in Europe, the United States of America, and Asia. Besides original works for wind orchestra, he has also written various transcriptions and arrangements, always preserving a personal and recognizable style. He worked in the folk music field, as well as in popular music, where he has collaborated with popular singers such as Antonella Ruggiero, Goran Bregovic, Tosca, and Chiara Luppi. As a composer, he won First Prize at the 7th International Contest “Pietro Pernice” 2004 (with the piece Fanfare and Hymn for Peace), Second Prize at the 21st International Wind Band Composition Contest of Corciano 2000 (with the piece Via della Terra); Second Prize at the International Contest for original wind band composition ARGE-ALP 1998 (with the work Sah); and Second Prize at the International Contest of Composition for Youth Band of Sinnai 2011 (Klezmer Junior) . He has produced numerous recordings with radio and television broadcast companies in Italy and with the labels Scomegna and Amadeus. Marco Somadossi is often invited as a jury member at national and international performance and composition wind band competitions. He is professor of composition and wind band conducting at the Conservatory of Music "Jacopo Tomadini" in Udine.