Marco Ariani . Cello

Marco Ariani began studying the cello at the age of 7 under the guidance of Mº Francesco Pepicelli. At the age of 14 he performed the Georg Goltermann Concerto n.4 as his first recital and continued with a series of concerts in duo and as a soloist throughout Italy. He graduated in cello performance at the Higher Institute of Musical Studies “A. Peri” in Reggio Emilia with honours, under the tutelage of Mº Enrico Bronzi. In 2004 he was invited by the Italian Embassy in Australia to tour the country with pianist Marco Gianferrari, including in the tour high profile venues as the Town Hall Opera in Perth.

In 2005 he was selected by Mº Claudio Abbado as a member of the “Mozart Orchestra” with whom he recorded Mozart’s horn and violin concertos with Alessio Allegrini and Giuliano Carmignola for the Deutche Grammophon. Marco has played in orchestras with important conductors as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado and John E. Gardiner. In 2006 he performed Gabriel Faure’s Quartets with Alessandro Specchi and as a soloist with the violinist Silvia Mazzon for the concert festival “Il Violino Magico” in Portogruaro conducted by Mº Pavel Vernikov.

For a couple of years he studied the Baroque and Classical repertoire with an original instrument under the guidance of Mº Marco Frezzato; he was also invited on several occasions to play with the “Europa Galante” ensemble of early music directed by Mº Fabio Biondi. In 2012 he performed the complete suites of J.S.Bach for solo cello in many Italian cities. He has won several prizes in national and international chamber music competitions, performing duets with pianist Marco Gianferrari and trios with the “Trio Gentilucci”. Marco has been teaching cello for many years and is currently a teacher at the “Orazio Vecchi” Conservatory of Modena. He plays a “Jacques le Clerc” (1901) cello.

Flavio Villani . Piano

Flavio Villani is an Italian-NZ pianist. He completed a Bachelor of Piano Performance with Matteo Napoli at the Conservatory ‘G.Martucci’ in conjunction with a Bachelor of IT in Salerno, Italy in 2007. After working in IT in Barcelona he was given the opportunity of coming to New Zealand to pursue a career in music. He moved to New Zealand in 2008 to follow his dream and in 2012 he completed a Master in Piano Performance at the University of Auckland with first class honours under the guidance of pianist Stephen De Pledge.

The journey towards his first solo performance with an orchestra was documented in the feature length film “Crossing Rachmaninoff”. The film followed his preparations for, and performance of, Rachmaninoff Concerto n.2 in Calabria in 2015 with the “Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria”. After that performance he subsequently took different soloist opportunities performing Rachmaninoff Concerto n.2, Tchaikovsky Concerto n.1 and the Warsaw Concerto with the “Orchestra of CalArts” in Los Angeles, the “New Plymouth Orchestra”, the “Taranaki Symphony”, the “Bay of Plenty Symphonia” and the “Auckland Symphony Orchestra”. He was absolute winner of the Northland Society Piano Competition in 2008 as well as winner of the first prize in the Llewelyn Piano Competition in both 2011 and 2012. He has performed many recitals as a soloist as well as in different chamber formations in California, Texas, Italy, Spain and New Zealand. The festivals where he performed include: the Venice Biennale (2011) for the exhibition and installation of the New Zealand pavilion, ‘Maggiociondolo’ in Alessandria, ’Lamezia Festival’ in Calabria and ‘Pianino Festival’ in the Chopin cell in Mallorca.

Currently he is undertaking a Doctorate through the Waikato University and is the Director of L’Accademia in St Heliers under the St Heliers Community Centre where he teaches, organizes concerts, masterclasses and leads a busy activity between the local and the musical community.