Giovanni Sollima
Cello
Giovanni Sollima (Palermo, 1962) studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and Antonio Janigro, and composition with his father and Milko Kelemen. He is a true cello virtuoso, and an extraordinary composer in every sense of the word. He communicates through music bursting with Mediterranean rhythms, full of typical Italian melodies, covering all style periods, from the Jurassic of the Cello - as he refers to the Baroque period - to metal. Additionally, he is also a qualified researcher of the old Italian cello school. During the Biennale in 2018 he presented a program with music by Giovanni Battista Costanzi and during this festival he will play the Cello Concerto in G by Gaetano Ciandelli with the Orchestra of the 18th Century.
Giovanni Sollima mainly performs his own compositions and thus contributes greatly to the creation of new repertoire for the cello. His audience is very diverse and ranges from classical music lovers to young metalheads. Giovanni Sollima blows them all away on his cello, built by Francesco Ruggieri in 1679. During the Biennale 2018, Giovanni Sollima received the prestigious Anner Bijlsma Award.