Bio
Michele Bianchini (1987) graduated with honors from the Conservatory of Perugia under the guidance of Roberto Todini, obtaining a scholarship as the best graduate of the year 2009. He also studied at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki with Pekka Savijoki and followed master classes with internationally renowned saxophonists such as E. Rousseau, C. Delangle, JM Londeix, F. Mondelci and deepened the contemporary and electronic repertoire under the guidance of G. Antongirolami.
He carries out intense concert activity both as a soloist and in various chamber ensembles, proposing himself with a repertoire that includes both works from the 1900s and - in particular - contemporary works.
He has performed for important festivals and associations both in Italy - Milano Musica, Ravenna Festival, Nuova Consonanza, L'Aquila Contemporanea, Amici della Musica di Modena, Amici della Musica di Perugia, Seismic Area of Forlì, New Musical Spaces Contemporary music festival (Ascoli Piceno), Forlì Open Music, Germi Festival of contemporary music in Rome, Review of New Music in Macerata - and abroad - New York University, Symphony Space Hall (New York), Megaron in Athens, Eastman School of Music in Rochester (USA), Potdsam Musik Fabrik (D), Hartford University (USA), Colorado College (USA), Perm International Festival of Contemporary Music (RU), Mixtur Festival in Barcellona (E), Moscow Philharmonic, Moscow Conservatory, Potdsam Intersonanzen Festival (D ), 17th and 18th World Saxophone Congress which were held in Strasbourg (2015) and Zagreb (2018).
Assiduous interpreter of the contemporary repertoire for saxophone, thanks also to continuous collaborations with Italian and international composers, he has performed numerous premiere of pieces often written specifically for him by authors such as S. Sciarrino, C. E. Cella, N. Tzortzis, R. Cendo, A. Khubeev, G. Colombo Taccani, I. Fedele, S. Scodanibbio, A. Gentile, T. Papatrechas, L. Gregoretti, F. De Rossi Re, Wei-Chieh Lin; he also collaborated with F. Bedrossian, M. Andre and S. Sciarrino.
In addition to dedicating himself with particular attention to solo activity (also with live electronics), he pays particular attention to the chamber repertoire, collaborating with various ensembles.
He is a member of the Suono Giallo Ensemble (flute, saxophone, double bass, piano and percussion). He is also the executive director of ilSUONO Contemporary Music Week, a week dedicated to contemporary music with masterclasses and concerts, born with the aim of enhancing the compositional and interpretative aspect: since 2016 composers of the caliber of F. Filidei, S Movio, N. Tzortzis, F. Bedrossian, Y. Maresz, G. Spiropoulos, C. Czernowin, R. Steiger, C. Iannotta, C. E. Cella, S. Eldar and E. Campion.
He is a founding member of the Freem Saxophone Quartet (Iacopo Sammartano, Riccardo Guazzini and Thomas Luti), an active group in the dissemination of the classical and minimalist repertoire for this formation. He founded also the Sidera Saxophone Quartet (Gianpaolo Antongirolami, Michele Selva and Daniele Berdini), a recently established group mainly dedicated to the contemporary and electroacoustic repertoire.
He has held seminars on extended techniques and contemporary repertoire for saxophone at the Ionian University of Corfu, the A. Buzzolla Conservatory of Adria, the G. Rossini Conservatory of Pesaro and the G.B. Pergolesi of Fermo. His recording activity is also significant. In February 2023 his second solo work, ANTITHESIS, was released for the DAVINCI Classics label with two world premiere works by Agostini and Nicoli and music by Sciarrino, Andre, Ratkje, Neuwirth, Malin, Clyne. In 2022 the first album of the Sidera Saxophone Quartet - Koinè - Italian contemporary music - was released on the EMA Vinci label. Record included in the top 5 of the year by the critic Mario Gamba in the Manifesto. In 2019 his first solo work, Grido, was released on the Ars Publica label, including world premiere works specially written for this project by A. Khubeev, G. Santini, G. Spiropoulos, N. Tzortzis, I. Zapata, T. Papatrechas, Wei Chieh Lin, F. Volpi. Also in 2019 Brilliant Classics published A Minimal Sax, a work dedicated to minimalist music for saxophone quartet with music by S. Reich, P. Glass, M. Nyman and M. Torke.
With the Nyky Trio he has recorded for A Simple Lunch Record ...à bout de souffle..., CDs with music by contemporary Italian authors, many of which written and dedicated to the trio. Also for A Simple Lunch he recorded a project dedicated to Alberto Burri with the Ensemble Suono Giallo on the occasion of his centenary with world premiere music.
His live performances have been included in various publications for MAP Editions (So far so good by Virginia Guastella sax solo and Nyky Trio), ICIA and NAVONA Record (In memoriam Dinu Ghezzo and the cycles of the moon with the Namaste Ensemble).