Marco Albonetti
One of Italy's leading concert saxophonist, Marco Albonetti is engaged in performing and teaching around the world. He has appeared at numerous international venues such as the Wiener Saal of Salzburg, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Gewandhaus of Leipzig, the Wits Great Hall of Johannesburg, the Palau de la Musica Catalana of Barcelona, the Teatro Espanol of Madrid, the Palau de la Musica of Valencia. His concert tours have taken place in Italy, France, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus, South Africa, Canada, China and the United States.

He regularly performs as soloist with Italian and international orchestras and takes part in many important international music festivals. He has been awarded first prize at several international music competitions and has recorded for RAI, SABC, PIK1, CBS, LTV Lumier, Cypriot Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio.

Marco holds diplomas from the Rossini Conservatory (Pesaro, Italy) and the Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Saltzburg, Austria, as well as a Master of Music degree (summa cum laude) from Bowling Green State University as student of Dr. John Sampen, and Doctor of Musical Arts (summa cum laude, Dean's Award of Excellence) at Michigan State University, where he studied classical saxophone performance under James Forger and Joseph Lulloff and jazz saxophone performance with Andrew Speight and Brandford Marsalis.

He is the Artistic Director of the Faenza International Saxophone Festival, Italy.

Marco Albonetti has been an instructor at international music schools and conservatories, holds a tenured position as Professor of Saxophone at the Conservatory of Music "N. Piccinni" in Bari, Italy and is external examiner and visiting artist for Doctoral Studies at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

In 2006-2007, Albonetti was invited to conduct master classes at universities and conservatories in Europe, China and the United States, among which were the Universitat der Kunste, Berlin; the Sibelius Aketemia, St. Petersburg Conservatory; Hartt School of Hartford University; Ohio State University; Michigan State University; State University of New York Stony Brook; the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point; the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. LawrenceUniversity; Xi'An Conservatory of Music; NanChangUniversity; Paralimni Municipal School, CyprusCollege of Music.

From 1997 to 2002, Albonetti taught in the USA as a Visiting Professor at Lawrence University, Bowling GreenState University and the Flint Institute of Performing Arts.

Frequently asked to participate as a member of the jury for international saxophone competitions, he was given an award of merit conferred by the North American Saxophone Alliance "for the extraordinary activity in advancing the status of classical saxophone around the world."

From 1998, he has been the Artistic Director of the Faenza International Saxophone Festival, a program of workshops, conferences, seminars, recitals and concerts that attract saxophone students and professionals from around the world.

Marco Albonetti has featured as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras at prestigious venues around the world, frequently as guest-artist in the USA, his adopted country.

A gifted instrumentalist, Albonetti's refined and complex musical sensibilities, have enabled him to express himself in a heterogeneous repertory ranging from classical (which forms the foundations of his cannon) to contemporary (an area in which he has mastered the technique in execution) and even includes the new tango (a form in which he is currently engaged in advancing through diligent research and experimentation).

Daniele di Bonaventura
was born in Italy (Fermo, Marche) and he is a composer, arranger, pianist and bandoneonist. From the beginning of his work, he has been interested in musical improvisation although he studied classical music (Composition conservatory diploma): since he has eight years old, he studied piano, cello, composition and orchestra conducting. His collaborations extending from classical music to contemporary music, from jazz to tango, world music and in theater, cinema and dance too.

He played in the biggest italian and international festivals including: Rumori Mediterranei (Roccella Jonica) in 1987 and 1988, Jazz & Image di Villa Celimontana in Rome, Ravenna Jazz 2000, Clusone Jazz 2001, Biennale Arte Venezia 2001, Sant’Anna Arresi Jazz 2004, Festival della Letteratura Mantova 2004, Cormòns 2005, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia’s Chamber Music Festival in 2005, Umbria Jazz Winter in 2014, Music Hall Festival and Royal Festival Hall in London, Music Hall in Leeuwarden (Holland), 30° Deutsches Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, Berlin Jazz Festival, Festa de la Mercè in Barcelona, Opera House in Cairo, Olavsfestdagen a in Trondheim (Norway), Berlioz Festival, Jazz in Marciac (France), Jazz at Bran Castle (Romania), and in other countries like Switzerland, Portugal, Brazil, Argentine, Slovenia, Moldova, Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Singapore, USA and South Africa.

He played, recorded and performed with: Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Bollani, A Filetta’s Choir, Oliver Lake, David Murray, Miroslav Vitous, Rita Marcotulli, David Liebman, Toots Tielemans, Lenny White Omar Sosa, Flavio Boltro, Joanne Brackeen, Greg Osby, Ira Coleman, Dino Saluzzi, Javier Girotto, Cèsar Stroscio, Tenores di Bitti, Aires Tango, Peppe Servillo, David Riondino, Francesco Guccini, Sergio Cammariere, Lella Costa, Ornella Vanoni, Franco Califano, Eugenio Allegri, Alessandro Haber, Enzo De Caro, Omero Antonutti, Giuseppe Piccioni, Mimmo Cuticchio, Custòdio Castelo, Andrè Jaume, Furio Di Castri, U.T. Gandhi, Guinga, Riccardo Fassi, Frank Marocco, Paolo Vinaccia, Mathias Eick, Bendik Hofseth, Quinteto Violado and other more. In 2003 he composed, arranged and played for Philharmonic Marchigian Orchestra the “Suite for Bandoneon e Orchestra”.

He recorded and published more than fifty album with many label including Via Veneto Jazz, Philology, Manifesto, Felmay, Amiata Records, Splasc(H), World Music, CCn’C Records and he recorded for Harmonia Mundi Record an opera for bandoneon e string quartet called “Sine Nomine”. The latest collaborations are with the musician Miroslav Vitous for his cd called “Universal Syncopation II”, which won the German Critics Prize (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) as Album of the Year 2007, published by ECM. With the same label he recorded an album titled “Mistico Mediterraneo” with Paolo Fresu and A Filetta’s Choir. In 2013 with Tuk Music, Paolo Fresu’s label, he released a double lp called “Nadir” where he played bandoneon and piano. In 2014 he contributed to Torneranno i prati’s soundtrack, a movie directed by Ermanno Olmi. In March will be released for ECM an album in duo with Paolo Fresu and a documentary directed by Fabrizio Ferraro shot during the recording session in Lugano with Manfred Eicher, the ECM founder.