Stefano Bollani (born 5 December 1972) is an Italian composer, pianist and singer, also active as a writer and a television presenter. He has worked with such musicians as

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

, Chick Corea,

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

, Sol Gabetta, Richard Galliano,

Egberto Gismonti Egberto Amin Gismonti (born December 5, 1947) is a Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist. Biography Gismonti was born in the small city of Carmo, Rio de Janeiro, Carmo, state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a musi ...

, Lee Konitz,

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

and has recorded more than 15 albums with trumpeter

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri' ...

. Bollani has performed with several symphonic orchestras (

Filarmonica della Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the " ...

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

, among others) and with directors such as Riccardo Chailly,

Daniel Harding Daniel John Harding (born 31 August 1975) is a British conductor. Biography Harding was born in Oxford. He studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13. At age 17, Harding assembled ...

Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964, Sesto San Giovanni, Italy) is an Italian conductor. Biography Noseda studied piano and composition in Milan. He began conducting studies at age 27. He furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzet ...

and

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He is scheduled to become chief c ...

. He has also played with Italian pop-rock artists and has participated in and hosted TV and radio shows. Currently, he has published 49 albums alone (31 studio).

Biography

Early life

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to Roberto Bollani, from Lombardy, and a Venetian mother from

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

, Maddalena, he has a sister named Manuela born in

Alba, Piedmont Alba ( pms, label= Piedmontese, Arba; la, Alba Pompeia) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, Italy, in the Province of Cuneo. It is one of the main cities in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and ...

. He grew up in Florence where he began his studies in the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini at the age of 6 and where he graduated in 1993 under the supervision of Maestro Antonio Caggiula. At 15 he had already started to perform professionally. After a short experience touring as a pop artist and after playing in the pop-rock band La Forma, since the mid-nineties he established himself in the jazz scene.

1990s

A crucial event for Bollani's career was meeting

, who he started playing with in 1996. Together they have performed in hundreds of concerts and have recorded more than 15 albums, the first of which are ''Certi angoli segreti'' (1998), ''Rava Plays Rava'' and ''Shades of Chet'' (1999). Around these years Bollani also started playing with some of the most important Italian jazz artists:

Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music. Career Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the ba ...

, Roberto Gatto and Enzo Pietropaoli. In 1998 he recorded his first album ''Gnòsi delle fànfole'', based on poems by Fosco Maraini, with singer-songwriter Massimo Altomare. In the same year, he played for the first time with American saxophonist Lee Konitz in ''TenderLee for Chet'', and won the prize for best new talent awarded by Italian magazine '' Musica Jazz''. In 1999 two more albums came out: ''Mambo Italiano'' – recorded with one of his most trusted collaborators, double bass player Ares Tavolazzi – and ''L'orchestra del Titanic'', recorded with the orchestra that gave the name to the album: Antonello Salis, Riccardo Onofri, Raffaello Pareti and Walter Paoli, besides Bollani himself. He also participated in ''Passatori'', by the French accordionist Richard Galliano, with the Solisti dell'Orchestra della Toscana.

2000s

Bollani's collaborations in the first years were not limited to jazz, but included works with Italian pop artists such as

Elio Elio is an Italian male given name. Origin A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of it, Elio, label=none (Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. it, Elio, label=none derives, through the Latin ''Helius'', from the Ancient Greek Ἥ� ...

, Irene Grandi, Marco Parente, Peppe Servillo, Bobo Rondelli, Banda Osiris, Bandabardò,

Massimo Ranieri Massimo Ranieri (born Giovanni Calone on 3 May 1951) is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Naples ( at Santa Lucia), the fifth of eight children in the family. When he was 10, y ...

. In the meantime, the partnership with Enrico Rava kept flourishing and together they released ''Montréal Diary/B'' (2001),'' Tati'' (2005), ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...

'' (2007) and '' New York Days'' (2009). Furthermore, Bollani featured in several albums and international tours where he played with such musicians as Gianni Basso,

Gianluca Petrella Gianluca Petrella is an Italian jazz trombonist. In 2001 he won Italy's Django d'Or Award as well as Musica Jazz's annual critics poll as Best Young Talent. In 2006 and 2007 he was featured in ''Down Beat'' magazine, winning their award for "Bes ...

, John Abercrombie, Jeff Ballard,

Larry Grenadier Larry Grenadier (born February 6, 1966 in San Francisco) is an American jazz double bassist. Early life Grenadier's father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, play trumpet and guitar, respectively. Grenadier be ...

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the ...

, Mark Turner,

and

. Two notable collaborations occurred in 2003: one with Russian singer

Sainkho Namtchylak Sainkho Namtchylak ( tyv, Сайын-Хөө Намчылак, russian: Сайнхо Намчылак, born 1957) is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan ...

(''Who Stole the Sky?''), and one with

who invited Bollani to play alongside him in ''Strong Currents'' (other guests were

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career ...

and

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

). Between 2002 and 2006, Bollani recorded six albums for French Label Bleu. The series began with ''Les Fleurs bleues'' (2002), inspired by the novel by Raymond Queneu and recorded with Scott Colley and Clarence Penn, followed by ''Småt Småt'' (2003) highlighted by English magazine ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' as one of the best albums of the year. In 2004 ''Concertone'' was released, the first album Bollani recorded with a symphonic orchestra – the Orchestra della Toscana directed by Paolo Silvestri – based on which choreographer

Mauro Bigonzetti Mauro Bigonzetti (born 1960) is an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. He trained at the ballet school of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and entered their company in 1979. In 1983 Bigonzetti joined the Reggio Emilia company Aterballetto, renow ...

crafted a ballet for the Stuttgart Ballet. In the same year Bollani also won the New Star Award, conferred for the first time to a non-US musician by Japanese magazine ''Swing Journal''. The last of the four albums was released in 2006, titled '' I visionari'' and recorded with the homonym band formed by Mirko Guerrini, Nico Gori, Ferruccio Spinetti and Cristiano Calcagnile, with special features by Mark Feldman, Paolo Fresu and Petra Magoni (at the time his wife). During these same years, Japanese label Venus Records released four albums by the “Stefano Bollani Trio” formed with Ares Tavolazzi on contrabass and Walter Paoli on drums: ''Black and Tan Fantasy'' (2002), ''Volare'' (2002), ''Falando de amor'' (2003), ''Ma l'amore no'' (2004) and ''I'm in the Mood for Love'' (2007). At the same time Bollani began an intense collaboration with contrabass player Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund, with whom he formed the “Danish Trio”. In a three-year span, Stunt label released ''Mi ritorni in mente'' (2003), ''Close to You'' (2004, with Danish singer Katrine Madsen) and ''Gleda: Songs from Scandinavia'' (2005). Finally, in 2009, ECM published '' Stone in the Water.'' In 2006, ''

Piano Solo The piano is often used to provide harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument. However, solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from D ...

'' was released and the Italian magazine ''Musica Jazz'' awarded it the best album of the year and nominated Bollani for the best Italian musician of the year. The following year, Bollani tackled classical repertoire with the Filarmonica '900 of the Teatro Regio of Turin, directed by

Jan Latham-Koenig Jan Betrand Latham-Koenig, (born 1953) is a British conductor. He was born in England, coming from French, Danish and Polish origins. He attended Highgate School and then studied at the Royal College of Music in London before he founded the Ko ...

, by recording the ''

Concert champêtre ''Concert champêtre'' (, ''Pastoral Concerto''), FP 49, is a harpsichord concerto by Francis Poulenc, which also exists in a version for piano solo with very slight changes in the solo part. It was written in 1927–28 for the harpsichordist ...

'', ''

Les Animaux Modèles ''Les Animaux modèles'', FP 111, is a ballet dating from 1940 to 1942 with music by Francis Poulenc. It was the third and final ballet that he composed and was staged at the Paris Opéra in 1942, with choreography by Serge Lifar, who also danced ...

'', and the ''Improvisations'' number 13 and 15 by Francis Poulenc. A few months later ''BollaniCarioca'' came out, recorded with important Brazilian artists. In 2007 he played a piano in a

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

favela: only

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

had done this before. In the same year he won the Hans Koller European Jazz Prize as the best European musician of 2007 and was listed among the five most important musicians of the year by American website ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' alongside Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins. Around this time, Bollani appeared again in the Italian pop music scene, but the most relevant collaboration was that started in 2009 with jazz pianist Chick Corea, with whom Bollani toured through various Italian cities showcasing a totally new duo performance. The live album '' Orvieto'' is based on these performances.

2010–present

On 15 July 2010, Bollani received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music. On September 14, the award was presented on the main stage of the

Umbria Jazz Festival The Umbria Jazz Festival is one of the most important jazz festivals in the world and has been held annually since 1973, usually in July, in Perugia, and surrounding cities of the region of Umbria Italy. Furthermore, the Umbria Jazz Winter Festi ...

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

, Italy by Berklee's former vice president of academic affairs, Larry Monroe. The same year ''Rhapsody in Blue – Concerto in F'' was released. The album includes three classical works by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

played by the

directed by Riccardo Chailly: ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered i ...

'' (in the piano and jazz band version by

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

), '' Piano Concerto in F'', and ''Rialto Ripples''. The album entered the pop charts ranking at number eight, making it the first ever classical music album in Italy to be included in the top ten. It also won the Platinum award after having sold seventy thousand copies. In 2012, Bollani and Chailly played again with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra to record ''Sound of the 30s'', which includes great classics from the Thirties:

Piano Concerto in G major Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, was composed between 1929 and 1931. The concerto is in three movements, with a total playing time of a little over 20 minutes. Ravel said that in this piece he was not aiming to be profound but to enterta ...

by Maurice Ravel, ''

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

'' by Igor Stravinsky, ''Tango Ballad'' (from ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

'') and ''Surabaya Johnny'' (from the '' Happy End'' musical) by Kurt Weill, and ''A Thousand and One Nights'' by

Victor de Sabata Victor de Sabata (10 April 1892 – 11 December 1967) was an Italian conductor and composer. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished operatic conductors of the twentieth century, especially for his Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. D ...

. The two played with the

, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and with the

. The Milan concert was broadcast live in movie theaters of about 20 countries on April 21, 2012, and recorded on the ''Live at La Scala'' DVD (2013) that includes pieces by George Gershwin (''

Catfish Row ''Catfish Row'', originally titled ''Suite from Porgy and Bess'', is an orchestral work by George Gershwin based upon music from his famous opera ''Porgy and Bess''. Gershwin completed the work in 1936 and it premiered at the Academy of Music in P ...

'', ''

An American in Paris ''An American in Paris'' is a jazz-influenced orchestral piece by American composer George Gershwin first performed in 1928. It was inspired by the time that Gershwin had spent in Paris and evokes the sights and energy of the French capital ...

'', ''

Concerto in F Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than his earlier jazz-influenced ''Rhapsody in Blue''. It was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor an ...

'', ''Rialto Ripples''), by Scott Joplin ('' Maple Leaf Rag'') and by

Joseph Kosma Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer. Biography Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographe ...

('' Autumn Leaves''). The numerous concerts with symphonic orchestras – directed by

, Kristian Järvi,

and

among others – did not keep Bollani from recording various albums with other artists, such as ''Big Band!'', with the Hamburg-based NDR Bigband directed by Norwegian saxophonist

Geir Lysne Geir Øystein Lysne (born 9 October 1965 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone, flute, composer, arranger) and a famous Big Band leader. Career Geir Lysne is a Norwegian conductor, composer, produser and teacher, educate ...

(2011; Echo Jazz award 2013), ''Irene Grandi & Stefano Bollani'' (2012), ''O que será'' with

Hamilton de Holanda Hamilton de Holanda is a Brazilian bandolinist known for his mixture of choro and contemporary jazz, and for his instrumental virtuosity. Born in Rio de Janeiro he moved to Brasilia with his family as a boy. He started playing the mandolin a ...

(2013), ''Sheik Yer Zappa'', a tribute to Frank Zappa's music (2014). Also in 2014, Bollani again recorded with the Danish Trio releasing ''Joy in Spite of Everything'' featuring Mark Turner and

, which was conferred the Best Album of the year award by ''Musica Jazz''. On September 26, Bollani received another International award, namely the JTI Trier Jazz Award. In 2015, Bollani recorded his first album as singer-songwriter ''Arivano gli alieni''. The following year the new album ''Live from Mars'' was released and the project ''Napoli Trip'' begins: Bollani pays tribute to Neapolitan music accompanied by Daniele Sepe, Nico Gori,

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...

and

Jan Bang Jan Bang (born 21 August 1968) is a Norwegian musician and record producer who has worked with Morten Harket, Sidsel Endresen, David Sylvian, Nils Petter Molvær, Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Arve Henriksen, and Erik Honoré. (in Norwegian) ...

, and alongside Arye Henriksen, Audun Klive and Hamilton de Holanda. Also in 2016, Bollani participated in Hamilton de Holanda's recording of ''Samba de chico'' and played with

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

in ''Vai trabalhar vagabundo''. In 2017, he played at the

Berliner Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is o ...

with Jesper Bodilsen, Morten Lund, the French accordionist Vincent Peirani, and 14 members of the Berliner Philharmonic, paying homage to Italian composers such as

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained h ...

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

, Rossini, Rota, and Morricone. Directed and arranged by Geir Lysne, the concert became an album entitled ''Mediterraneo.'' In May 2018, Bollani released ''Que Bom'', the first album of his own label, Alobar; made of new songs and entirely recorded in Rio de Janeiro, it features artists such as

João Bosco João Bosco de Freitas Mucci, known professionally as João Bosco () is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist. In the 1970s he established his reputation in ''música popular Brasileira'' (Portuguese: "Brazilian pop music") with lyricist ...

Jaques Morelenbaum Jaques Morelenbaum (() born 18 May 1954) is a Brazilian instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, composer and music producer. Morelenbaum was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of conductor Henrique Morelenbaum and piano teacher Sarah Morelenbaum. Hi ...

and Hamilton de Holanda. His latest albums include ''Piano Variations on Jesus Christ Superstar'', a solo piano tribute to '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' released on the 50th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

's rock opera, and ''El Chakracanta'', a live recording from Buenos Aires with the Orquesta Sin Fin, conducted by Exequiel Mantega.

Other projects

Bollani wrote and hosted various Italian radio and TV shows: ''Il Dottor Djembè'' ( Radio Rai 3, 2006-2012), ''Sostiene Bollani'' (

Rai 3 Rai 3 (formerly Rete 3) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural and ...

, 2001 and 2013), ''L'importante è avere un piano'' (

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and gener ...

, 2016), and ''Via dei Matti nº0'' (Rai 3, 2021-2022). Bollani has also worked in theater, both as musician-actor and as composer. During the 2015/2016 season he co-wrote, co-directed and acted in ''La regina Dada'' with his partner Valentina Cenni. Bollani has published several books, including the novel ''La sindrome di Brontolo'' (2006) and three works on the world of music: ''L'America di Renato Carosone'' (2004), ''Parliamo di musica'' (2013) and ''Il monello, il guru, l'alchimista e altre storie di musicisti'' (2015). There is also a cartoon character based on Bollani, named Paperefano Bolletta, who appeared for the first time in the Italian version of the ''Disney magazine'', Donald Duck pocket books (''

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Panin ...

''), on 22 September 2009.

Awards and honors

Main awards

* 1998: Best New Talent (awarded by Italian magazine '' Musica Jazz'') * 2003: Premio Carosone * 2004: New Star Award (awarded by Japanese magazine ''Swing Journal'') * 2006: Italian musician of the year (''Musica Jazz'') * 2006: ''Piano solo'' album of the year (''Musica Jazz'') * 2007: Hans Koller European Jazz Prize * 2007: Musician of the year (awarded by American website ''

'') * 2009: Paul Acket Award (awarded by North Sea Jazz Festival) * 2010: Capri Global Artist Award * 2010: Musician of the year (''Musica Jazz'') * 2011: Premio Fiorentini nel mondo * 2011: Los Angeles Excellence Award * 2012: Premio Milano per la musica * 2013:

Echo Jazz The Echo Jazz (stylized as ECHO JAZZ) was a German music prize, an Echo Music Prize for personalities and production of jazz. It was awarded annually by the between 2010 and 2018. The awards had been given in 30 categories, including ensemble of ...

award to ''Big Band!'' (album of the year for the category "Big Band") * 2014: JTI Trier Jazz Award * 2014: ''Joy in Spite of Everything'' album of the year (''Musica Jazz'') * 2019: Premio Monini Una finestra sui due mondi * 2021: Nastro d'Argento for Best Score – ''Carosello Carosone'' * 2021:

Flaiano Prize The Flaiano Prizes ( it, Premi Flaiano) are a set of Italian international awards recognizing achievements in the fields of creative writing, cinema, theater and radio-television. Established to honour the Italian author and screenwriter Ennio Fla ...

for Best Cultural TV Program – ''Via dei Matti nº0'' * 2021: Tenco Award for Career Achievement * 2022: Soundtrack Stars Award – Critics' Award (

79th Venice International Film Festival The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Juries Main Competition (Venezia 79) * Julianne Moore, American actress and author (Jury President) * Mariano Cohn, Argentine director, screenw ...

)

Honors

* 2008: Gonfalone d'argento (awarded by Tuscany Region) * 2010:

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of Music from Berklee College of Music * 2016:

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

– Class: Commendatore * Honorary member of the Italian Institute of

'Pataphysics Pataphysics (french: 'pataphysique) is a "philosophy" of science invented by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873–1907) intended to be a parody of science. Difficult to be simply defined or pinned down, it has been described as the "science of imag ...

Discography

As leader

Soundtracks

Gallery

Bollani performing in 2013 Image:Stefano-bollani01.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani02.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani03.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani04.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani05.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani06.jpg Image:Stefano-bollani08.jpg

References

External links

StefanoBollani.com
official site
label bleu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bollani 1972 births Living people Male jazz musicians Italian jazz pianists Italian male pianists 21st-century Italian musicians 21st-century Italian male musicians 21st-century pianists ECM Records artists Musicians from Milan Label Bleu artists