Paolo Ponziano Ciardi
Paolo Ponziano Ciardi was born in Genova and began his conducting career at an early age. Alongside his classical and humanistic preparation, he also studied pianoforte, composition, organ, orchestral conducting and choral conducting. Contemporaneously he frequented courses at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Milan Horvat and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under Franco Ferrara. In 1981 he was the only Italian to win a scholarship offered by the Austrian Government and he perfected his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna with Otmar Suitner for Orchestral Conducting, Karl Etti for Opera Conducting and Gunther Theuring for Choral Conducting. He won the edition of the "European Personality Award" for his work.
As a conductor Ciardi is a regular guest to Symphonic and Choral Associations, Orchestras and important international Concert Societies. Amongst these are: the RAI Orchestra in Turin, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Opera Society "G.P. da Palestrina" in Cagliari, Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, the Orchestra "A. Scarlatti" of Neaples, the Milano Classica Orchestra, the Opera Theatre “V. Bellini” of Catania, the Opera Theatre of Budapest, the Opera Theatre of Spalato (Croatia), the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, the Philarmonia of Minsk, the Budapest Chamber Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Malta, the Bacau Philarmonic Orchestra, the Budapest Concert Orchestra, he has collaborated with soloists and singers such as Simon Estes, Mariella Devia, Daniela Mazzucato, Fiorenza Cedolins, Cecilia Gasdia, Pietro Ballo, Raina Kabaivanska, Francesca Patanè, Istvan Ruha, Ilya Grubert, Felix Ayo, Massimo Quarta, Rolando Panerai, Katia Ricciarelli and Simone Alaimo, winning the enthusiasm of the public and excellent press notices everywhere.
Particularily significant were his performances in the Tchaikowsky Hall in Moscow, the Abravanell Hall in Salt Lake City, the Bonn University, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, the "Salle des Penitents Blancs" at Avignon, the Internationale Salzburger Orgelkonzerte of Salzburg, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Comunale di Cagliari, Rossini Opera Festival, Opera Theatre of Ankara (Turkey), the Festival Internacional Cervantino of Guanajuato (Mexico), the Auditorium of Mexico City, the Roman Theatre at Cartagine, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Cecilia Meireles Hall in Rio de Janeiro, the Fujiarah Performing Arts Hall (UAE).
Ciardi held the professorship for Orchestral Training at the Conservatorio “J. Tomadini" in Udine, at the Conservatorio “Nicola Sala" in Benevento and in the last 16 years at the Conservatorio "Luigi Cherubini" in Florence. He was the Musical Director of Orchestra Rossini di Pesaro, and Artistic and Musical Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Pesaro, of the Istituzione Sinfonica Italia Classica and of the Musica Ischia Festival.
He was Administrative Adviser to the "Teatro Regio" in Turin from 1992 until 1994, a member of the Central Board of Music in 1996 and from 1997 until 2007 he was a member of the National Committee dealing with problems in Performing Arts, for the Performing Arts Sector ofthe Prime Minister's Cabinet. In June 1998 Ciardi was decorated with the honorary award of "Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic".
He has recorded for Radiotelevisione Italiana 1, Radiotelevisione Italiana 3, the Vatican Radio, the Magiara Radio & Television, the Bielorussia Radio & Television, the Mexican Radio & Television, the Fox Television U.S.A., and various Cd and Dvd for the companies ABC, Agorà, Phoenix Classics, Pantheon.
Zee Zee
Piano
Zee Zee (Zhang Zuo) has performed with leading orchestras worldwide such as the BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tonhalle Zurich, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony.
Zee Zee regularly works with some of today’s leading conductors, including Marin Alsop, Charles Dutoit, Domingo Hindoyan, Michał Nesterowicz, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, and Xian Zhang. She played at prestigious venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Vancouver Recital Society, Lucerne Festival, the Gilmore Festival, Aspen Festival and Ravinia Festival.
A passionate chamber musician, Zee Zee frequently performs with the Z.E.N. Trio alongside violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan. The trio tours throughout the world. They had their first U.S. tour in October 2019 and will tour in Australia in August 2022.
In October 2019, Universal released her first album, featuring Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Paavo Järvi and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Zee Zee’s latest solo album "Journey", which features works from Wagner, Schönberg, and Liszt, was released in May 2022.
Orchestra del Teatro Goldoni di Livorno
The Teatro Goldoni Orchestra established in 2020 from the main reference staff of the opera and symphonic seasons of the Theater has, over time, assumed connotations of stability, refinement and search for sonorities.
It represents a national and international point of reference for its Symphony Season and its productions such as Sheherazade by Rismky Korsakov performed for the first time in Livorno in November 2022 or Tchaikovsky's Symphony VI repeated 90 years after the first Italian performance conducted by Pietro Mascagni.
The artistic specificities of the orchestra are to be found in the Mascagnano, Pucciniano and Verdian opera repertoire. He actively participates every year in the Mascagni Festival in Livorno, giving new life to works by the composer from Livorno par excellence.
The conductors and soloists with whom the orchestra has collaborated have appreciated its dynamism and availability. The artists who have been able to appreciate it over time are: Anderson Dean, De Lorenzo Giancarlo, Fratta Gianna, Madaras Gergely, NG Wilson, Raskin Daniel, Smbatyan Sergey, Warner John, Blaumane Kristīna – Cellist, Brovtsyn Boris – Violinist, Cafaro Nicolò – Pianist, Chiacchiaretta Cesare – Bandoneonist, de Niese Danielle – Soprano, De Palma Dino – Violinist and Violist, Furia Fabio – Bandoneonist, Itamar Zorman – Violinist, Meloni Fabrizio – Clarinetist. Pellegrino Ettore – Violinist, Quaranta Salvatore – Violinist, Ruggiero Salvatore – Oboist, Semchuk Olexander – Violinist, Taverna Alessandro – Pianist, Yeol Eum Son – Pianist, Zhou Nancy – Violinist.
The Principal Conductor of the Orchestra is Maestro Eric Lederhandler, the Associate Conductor is Gianluca J. Greco.
In 2022, the Orchestra performed 82 concerts, 60% of which at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, and the remainder at important theaters such as the Ariston Theater in Sanremo, the Teatro Sociale in Camogli, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and made co-productions with important symphonic institutions such as the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, the Abruzzese Symphony Orchestra, the Bari Symphony Orchestra and the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra. He took part in the staging of 6 operas and strengthened institutional connections through the EU-funded project “Accordi Musicali”.
The YOM 2022 Competition saw the participation of 287 young instrumentalists for scholarships of €10,000.