Giovanni Sollima

The artist

Giovanni Sollima

Is an internationally renowned cellist and Italian composer whose works are among the most performed in the world. He has collaborated with Riccardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma, Ivan Fischer, Viktoria Mullova, Ruggero Raimondi, Mario Brunello, Kathryn Stott, Giuseppe Andaloro, Toni Florio, Yuri Bashmet, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Patti Smith, Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu, Antonio Albanese and with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Liverpool Philharmonic (Artist in Residence 2015), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Il Giardino armonico, Cappella Neapolitana, Accademia Bizantina, Holland Baroque Society, Budapest Festival Orchestra.
He composed music for Peter Greenaway, John Turturro, Bob Wilson, Carlos Saura, Marco Tullio Giordana, Peter Stein, Lasse Gjertsen, Anatoly Vasiliev, Karole Armitage and Carolyn Carlson. He has performed at the Alice Tully Hall, Knitting Factory, Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Opera House (Sydney), Suntory Hall (Tokyo). Since 2010 he teaches at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, where he is awarded the title of Academic. In 2012, together with Enrico Melozzi, he founded the 100 Cellos. In 2015 he composed the sound logo of Expo in Milan and inaugurated the new museum space of the Pietà Rondanini, by Michelangelo. Giovanni explores different genres using ancient, oriental, electric and inventive instruments, playing in the Sahara desert, underwater and with an ice cello. His discography began in 1998 with a CD produced by Philip Glass for Point Music, followed by eleven albums for Sony, Egea and Decca. He brought to light the eighteenth-century musician, Giovanni Battista Costanzi, of whom he recorded the Sonatas and Symphonies for cello and basso continuo for the Glossa record label. In October 2018 he received the Anner Bijlsma Award at the Cello Biennale in Amsterdam.
He plays a cello by Francesco Ruggieri (Cremona, 1679)