Conductor Giacomo Benedetti – Organ / Harpsicord

Giacomo Benedetti has studied Organ and Organ Composition in the conservatory “Lorenzo Cherubini” in Florence with Mariella Mochi and graduated with G. Libertucci obtaining master's degree with lode in Organo al Conservatorio “L.Cherubini “ with M.o Giovanni Clavorà Braulin and the Post-Gradum( con lode ) in Organo Antico to the PIMS a Roma with M.o Del Sordo; he studied with Matteo Imbruno, organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, following Masterclasses in Amsterdam. He is attending the last year of Harpsichord Master Studies with M.o Alfonso Fedi and the master course of baroque praxis in Fiesole conservatory with prominent figures of ancient music concertists: e.g. F. M. Sardelli, B. Hoffman, P. Cantamessa e G. Nuti. He is titular organist in San Miniato al Monte Basilica and in the church of Santa Felicita in Florence. He has worked and still work as official harpsichord accompanist and as organist for many institutions (Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence Conservatory of music L. Cherubini, Fiesole conservatory) and in many occasions (Passeggiata Organistica a palazzo Pitti nel 2016). He took part in many organ and piano competitions winning first prizes and placements. He performs concerts as Organist, Pianist, Harpsichordist and Choir Director in various contexts: International organ festival of La Verna; Japan (Yokohama ) in the “Festival Barock” as cymbalist soloist ; XIV Festival of Ancient, Renaissance and Baroque Music in Querètaro (Mexico) , Malta (International Organ Festival), Hartford (U.S.A.) with the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, International Organ Accademy of Pistoia; Haendel's soloist concerts for organ and orchestra with the Regional orchestra Val d'Arno; Anton Bieber's Sonatas for harpsichord and violin; in Munich for the bavarian radio; concerts in Ausburg in the Rokokolossal and in Ausburg's Cathedral in duo and in trio with organ and piano; in Helsinki for the Italian Institute in Finland; in Turku, in the Cathedral and in the National Theatre; university's choir in Florence; inauguration concerts of Legri's organ in Calenzano with a CD recording for Calenzano's municipality. He also directed in many concerts J. S. Bach’s motets in Florence.

The Musical Chapel of S. Felicita in Florence was created by Maestro G. Benedetti with the aim of spreading italian and german vocal and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. After individual studies and interpretation in Baroque practice, the musical chapel started tours in Italy and abroad: Austria, Germany, Malta, U.S.A., Japan, enjoying success and positive critiques. It is still involved in research and distribution of the early Baroque repertoire.

Conductor Dimitri Betti

Dimitri Betti, graduated at the Conservatory of La Spezia, Vienna and Florence summa cum laude, has participated in masterclasses with E. Gatti, R.Egarr, B.V. Asperen and C.Rousset, winner in 2019 of a Scholarship of the Cini Foundation in Venice. He has played like soloist, continuist and conductor from the harpsichord with the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Weimarer Akademie Orchester conducted by H.Rilling and in other festival around Italy (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Ravenna Festival) and Europe (Switzerland, Spain, Poland), where he was teacher of Baroque and Medieval music. He has recorded CDs edit by Brilliant Classics, Bongiovanni, Classic Voice Antiqua and he has played for the italian, swiss, german and the australian radio.

The Ensemble Etruria Barocca, founded in 2012, is a vocal and instrumental group of medieval and baroque music on original instruments, dedicated to the research and execution of works by lesser-known authors of the Tuscan music scene. Since 2016 he is one of the regular guests of the InCanto Armonico Festival, the concert season of the ISSM R.Franci in Siena, the season of the Amici della Musica di Viareggio-Versilia, the florentine festival In Caelestes Thesauro" as Ensemble in Residence of the training course Der Geist von Bach, the Liuteria Toscana festival and the Da Vinci Baroque Festival where he performed with the countertenor F. Mineccia. The Ensemble has in his repertoire the 8 Concerti da Chiesa Op.6 by A. Corelli, the Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and The Messiah by G. F. Händel and the Incoronazione di Poppea by C. Monteverdi, recorded and performed under the baton of F. Bardazzi, part of the activities of Opera Network Firenze.

Conductor Federico Bardazzi

Federico Bardazzi specialises in Early and Baroque Music, he is primarily active as a director in operatic repertoire, from its origins to Händel, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini and Puccini.
Having trained as a cellist with Andrè Navarra in Siena and Paris, he studied chamber music with Piero Farulli and the Quartetto Borodin, composition with Carlo Prosperi e Roberto Becheri, Gregorian chant with Nino Albarosa and Johannes Berchmans Göschl, choral conducting with Roberto Gabbiani and Peter Phillips, orchestral conducting at the Accademia Chigiana with Myung-Whun Chung.
He conducts the Ensemble San Felice, a vocal and instrumental group whose repertoire ranges from Medieval to contemporary music, with whom he has performed to great acclaim across the world such as a new version of Mozart’s unfinished Requiem, rare pages and masterpieces of seventeenth and eighteen century music, both in sacred and lyric repeortoire. Devoted for many years now to the Bachian repertoire, through the Ensemble he has conducted many times all of the great Kirchenmusik and all of the instrumental concerts.
His research programmes in Medieval music have met with great success across Europe: within this frame he is currently curating La musica della Commedia, an important work on the music of Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece, which takes place through concerts, conferences and multimedia productions.
Federico Bardazzi has been the Director of the Maggio Fiorentino Formazione’s courses from 2008 to 2014. In his role as training coordinator he has realised higher specialized training courses and projects funded by the European Social Fund. All his artistic and technical projects at the lyrical Theatre have been developed in collaboration with some of the main Tuscan musical institutions, such as Festival Pucciniano of Torre del Lago with which he is currently Director of the Agenzia Formativa. This experience leads to the creation of Opera Network, originally funded together with Carla Zanin, whose objective is to assist in the development of lyrical productions, in collaboration between institutions of different natures, with the aim of encouraging and assisting young artists in the early stages of their careers in developing their professional profile and career path. Some of the most successful projects were all conducted by Federico Bardazzi, moreover, the season 2018 will see Galuppi’s opera in collaboration with Landestheater of Salzburg and Festival Pucciniano. Being aware of the high potential that the East represents for both the Italian University as well as for the Artistic and Musical Higher Education system, he is the funder and leading member with Opera Network of an integrated project of cultural, linguistic and musical training for Chinese students.
Federico Bardazzi is artistic director of In-canto gregoriano - Incontri Internazionali di Firenze, a project devoted to the philological study and musical interpretation of the early liturgical repertoire, and has been member of the senior committee of AISCGre (Associazione Internazionale Studi di Canto Gregoriano) since 2015. He is also President & Artistic Director of the del Florence International Orchestra & Choir Festival, which, every year, brings together hundreds of musicians from all around the world, in a kermesse of high human and musical value. Is Artistic Director of Festival in canto armonico. He is Jury Member and President in many Festival and Competition Committees allover the world.
His recordings (at the moment 20 Cds and 10 Dvds) – whose concerts have been transmitted by international broadcasting, which has devoted one special on his performances – ranges from the Medieval to the operatic repertoire, and sees him not only in his role of conductor, but also of baroque cellist, gamba and fiddle player, for record labels such as Brilliant, Tactus, and Bongiovanni, etc.
Federico Bardazzi is Director of Conservatorio di Musica della Toscana and Professor of Chamber Music and Baroque Music at the State Conservatory Puccini of La Spezia and he is invited all around the world to lead Masterclasses.

The Ensemble San Felice, founded in 1993 by Federico Bardazzi as part of the activities of the Accademia San Felice, is a vocal and instrumental group whose repertoire is mainly medieval to contemporary sacred music. They have focused for many years on works by Bach and, under the baton of Federico Bardazzi they have performed the B minor Mass, the Six German Motets, the Johannes Passion, the Brandenburg Concertos and a Lutherian Mass set during Bach’s lifetime in Leipzig, as well as numerous Cantatas. The Ensemble, conducted by Bardazzi, also plays 17th century music in many festivals in Italy and abroad, in particular rarely performed pieces by Marco da Gagliano, Frescobaldi, Carissimi, Buxtehude, Jeronimo de Carrion and François Couperin. Of particular interest from this point of view are the first modern performances by the Ensemble, in association with the musicologist Giuseppe Collisani, of the Vespro di Santa Cecilia by Francesco Maria Stiava, and the Sonatas for two violins and bass by Pietro Antonio Franchi, two important Tuscan Baroque composers. The performances by the Ensemble most appreciated by audiences and critics, are a new version of Mozart’s Requiem, “Magnificat”, organised with the help of the European Union, “El cant de la Sibilla”, a programme of medieval Catalan music they presented at the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto, “Nigra sum sed Formosa” cantigas de Santa Maria, and “Quem queritis” a medieval liturgical drama based on Florentine codices. Arvo Pärt’s music is of particular interest to the Ensemble San Felice, and they perform the programme “Magnificat”, based on "Sieben Magnificat Antiphonen" and the “Berliner Messe”, integrated with parts of the Proprio in Gregorian Chant. In the last few years the group has continued its research into Gregorian chant from a philological and semiological point of view. “In-Canto”, the international meetings held annually in Florence in association with the Capitolo Metropolitano Fiorentino and Aiscgre (Associazione Internazionale Studi di Canto Gregoriano) are a result of this, and are usually frequented by the most important musicians in this field, such as Nino Albarosa, Johannes Berchmans Göschl and Daniel Saulnier. The Ensemble now performs Gregorian works with female voices, under the direction of Federico Bardazzi, their voice-training is carried out by the group's soloist Barbara Zanichelli. The Ensemble San Felice was directed by Alan Curtis in Jacopo Peri’s Euridice and by Marco Balderi in Giacomo Carissimi’s Oratorios, as well as other conductors such as Mark Shaull and Hans Dieter Uhlenbruck, who have also directed the group in numerous concerts in Italy and abroad. Amongst the recordings by the Ensemble San Felice, directed by Federico Bardazzi, there are the Six German Motets by Johann Sebastian Bach, the first recording ever of the Messa sopra l’aria di Fiorenza by Girolamo Frescobaldi (Bongiovanni), the Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X “Nigra sum sed Formosa” (Bongiovanni), the medieval Florentine liturgical drama “Quen queritis?” (Tactus) they performed on numerous tours in Italy and abroad. Their concerts and CDs have been broadcast by Rai (Italian State Radio), the Swiss, German, Polish radio and television and by the BBC.

Conductor Dario Passanante

Our choir was born in Siena in October 2013, out of the will of a group of friends who decided to put into practice their love for singing gospel music, with the common aim of staying together. Since 2015 the choir has carried out what's called "Siena's gospel project": a yearly event consisting in a gospel workshop supported by international artists and attended by choristers from all over Italy, staging a charity concert with a unique voice. Our artistic mission is telling a different way to sing [to] God, a new method of interpreting religious musical mixture of voices, joy and sounds overwhelming both listeners and singers.

Dario Passanante
Born in 1993, Dario is a powerful young director, with a passion for choral music since he was a child. Thanks to his tenor voice, to which his passion for gospel music is mainly due, he has sung in many polyphonic choirs focusing on sacred and religious music as well as in gospel choirs. University studies brought him to Siena in 2013, where he founded and is still conducting "the joyful anthem gospel choir", of which he is also president. Dario has created the Siena gospel project and collaborates with GTM Ministries, a no profit organization based in the United States, which spreads gospel message through music mission trips. He has attended many gospel workshops and is in touch with numerous directors of gospel choirs both in Italy and abroad.

Conductor Letizia Dei

Born in January 2008 as a choir-school in the Athenaeum Musicale Fiorentino and today has about thirty elements divided into sopranos, contralti and tenors. Many, in these years of activity, the collaborations with the Associations operating on the territory in symbolic places of the city for beneficial purposes; among them, we remember those with the Girotondo for Meyer, Noi per Voi, Auser,Lu.Be.C,(Lucca Beni Culturali), MEDU (Doctors for HumanRights),Telethon, Misericordia ofGalluzzo, ANT. There are plenty of venues in Florence where the Light Gospel Choir sang: St. James American Church, Church of Santa Trinita, Church of Ognissanti, Salone dei 500 in Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza Santa Croce, Piazza del Cestello, Certosa of Firenze,Boboli Gardens, Odeon Theater, Puccini Theater ... and many others. For many years now the association A.T.T Tuscan Association for Cancers for the traditional Christmas fundraising. With pride, particular affection and closeness it contributed to the construction of the Cice Garden at Meyer. Chosen by the U.S.A General Consulate of Florence it sang to celebrate, together with the Florentine American community, the fiftieth anniversary of the Black History Month. During the concerts of the Light Gospel Choir it is not rare to meet many Artists (singers and musicians) ,friends, who have the pleasure to perform together with the choir approaching the gospel giving birth to a captivating show that puts together, successfully, different artistic sensibilities.

Conductor Giorgio Ammirabile

The One Voice Gospel Choir was born on the initiative of Lucrezia Balatri, who died prematurely in May 2012, as a union of three choirs, the first of which started its activity in 1998 under the direction of Lucrezia Balatri herself and the pianist Michele Papadia, based in the St. James Episcopal Church in Florence. A few years after this first successful experiment two other leading choirs come to life at the Athenaeum Musicale Fiorentino. The three formations merge into a single group in 2010, thus giving life to a reality at the same time heterogeneous from the singing point of view, and spiritually very united by the common passion for music gospel. Since 2012 the choir has been directed by Giorgio Ammirabile, assisted by Giacomo Ferrari, accompanying at the piano for many years now, and has a staff of more than fifty elements. The One Voice Gospel Choir can boast of the collaboration with important gospel music artists, known to international level such as Alana Alexander, singer, author, world-renowned vocal coach; Knagui Damon, singer and musician; Ronald Ixaac Hubbard, pastor of Cleveland, OH; Rodney Hubbard, pianist; Trini Lopez Massie, musician, singer, choir director, Bazil Meade founder and director of London Community Gospel Choir. The choir has taken and still takes part in important gospel and non-gospel events; worthy of known is his performance on the stage of Pistoia Blues in July 2010, as well as his participation for almost ten years at Gospel Connection, today the most important gospel choir convention in Italy. Over the years he has performed in numerous prestigious concerts including "Concerto a Palazzo" in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence, in the Cathedral of Santa Croce, at the Puccini Theater, at the Aurora Theater and this year at Verdi Theater.

Artist, performer and vocal coach. Giorgio begun his music journey in Italy. He studied contrabass and piano at the Conservatory of Music of Florence although the voice became his main instrument. He collaborated as background vocalists with several gospel and CCM international artists and performed in many of the events and festivals dedicated to gospel music in Europe and the US. The style and message of his music are deeply influenced by the passion for soul/gospel music and his faith in God. He shares his time between Europe and the US developing his performing and vocal coaching career.
Studies: string bass, piano at the Music Conservatory of Florence (Italy), performing arts master class “The Crucible”, Belmont School of Arts, Nashville (TN)

Conductor Gianni Mini

Graduated in both violin and vocal studies, Gianni Mini has performed at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, with the Florentine Chamber Orchestra and in many other orchestras.
After a career as violinist he dedicated himself to singing: since 2001 he has collaborated with the RAI Symphony Orchestra by singing in the choir Ruggero Maghini, with Athestis, with Cercare Ensemble and other choirs and groups of ancient music throughout Italy.
He collaborated with the University of Florence Choir conducting the Ensemble, specialized in ancient and baroque music.
Simultaneously with classical studies, he embarked on a study path for Jazz and Soul vocality that brought him closer to African-American sounds, Spirituals and Gospel.
He has collaborated with Gianna Nannini, Laura Pausini, Raffaella Carrà, Bob Singleton, Cheryl Porter, Chanda Rule, E. Armstrong, Sherrita Duran, Jennifer Vargas, Giò di Tuna, Francesca Taverni, Cristian Gineo, Stefania Scarinzi.
His eclectic voice can manage various genres, from Baroque music, Mozart and Rossini’s operas, to various Musical roles and pop/rock music.

The Pilgrims Gospel Choir
Founded in 1997 by Gianni Mini the Choir is composed of about 40 singers and musicians from different musical backgrounds and its repertoire is mainly spiritual and gospel with a bit of pop and rock music.
In the course of its activity, it has participated in many national events and international festivals such as Torrita Blues, the Gospel night in Bologna, the Radioliberafestival in Santa Croce sull'Arno, the Narni Jazz Festival, the Gospel Festival of Lucca, the Gospel Festival of Legnago (Vr), the National Film, Theater and Television Festival of Villa Basilica, the Chianti Festival, the Varese Gospel Festival, Estate Fiesolana.
In recent years the The Pilgrims Choir has held a number of concerts in various Italian theaters always always enjoying public and press success. The choir has collaborated with major international music voices such as Cheryl Porter and Sherrita Duran, The Swingle Singers, Rick Estrin and Jennifer Vargas.
The Choir has released two CDs: one entitled The Pilgrims with some of the successes of the history of gospel choir while the second one features Gianni Mini and Jennifer Vargas. The repertoire is currently composed of thirty pieces:
- A cappella spirituals
- Traditional and modern gospel, accompanied by the musical band (from one to four elements) and choreographies that excite and involve the audience
- Pop / rock music polyphonically rearranged for the Pilgrims
The music band is made up of four elements: electric piano, drums and percussion, electric guitar, bass / double bass. There are twelve soloists, all part of the choir

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