Itamar Zorman
Violin
Distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling, Itamar Zorman is regarded as a singularly soulful and evocative artist. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust award, Itamar Zorman was also a laureate of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Louvre Recital Series in Paris, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips in Eindhoven, the HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt and the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade, and at festivals including the Kronberg Academy, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Delft and the Copenhagen Summer Festival, as well as Marlboro, Classical Tahoe and Chamberfest Cleveland in the US.
Itamar Zorman’ solo career encompasses four continents. He has appeared with orchestras in the USA, Europe, Asia and South America, including the American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Belgrade Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica, Het Gelders Orkest, Israel Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony, the KBS Symphony Seoul, as well as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra “Novaya Rossiya. A committed chamber player, he has led the Mahler Chamber Orchestra play-directed Camerata Nordica and is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project. He is also a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition.
Itamar Zorman’s diverse repertoire is reflected in his discography; June 2022 saw the release of his third CD ‘Violin Odyssey’ on the First Hand Records label, featuring seldom heard works by composers such as Schulhoff, Bacewicz, Revueltas and Pejacevic, while his previous CD, ‘Evocation’ (BIS Records, 2019) featured the violin works of Paul Ben-Haim.
Born in Tel-Aviv to a family of musicians, Zorman is a graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, the Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg, and the Manhattan School of Music. He is also an alumnus of the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Christian Tetzlaff.
Itamar Zorman is a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation; he currently plays on a Guarneri Del Jesu from 1734, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.
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.
Nicola Colafelice
At the age of eight, Nicola Colafelice began his musical studies on the cello under the guidance of Maestro Vito Paternoster. In 2009, he obtained his Diploma in Singing, and in 2017 he graduated in Orchestral Conducting with top marks and honors under Maestro Giovanni Pelliccia.
From 2009 to 2012, he served as Stage Conductor at the Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari. In August 2016, he took part in the masterclass on Verdi’s La Traviata held by Maestro Riccardo Muti at the Italian Opera Academy.
In February 2017, he won a scholarship to the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., where he earned his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting. In May 2017, he also attended, as an active participant, the conducting masterclass led by Maestro Donato Renzetti at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan with the Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali.
In 2018 and 2019, he worked as Resident Conductor at the State Opera House of Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), where he conducted three chamber operas: Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny – Ein Songspiel and Die sieben Todsünden, and Paul Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück. In May 2019, he conducted Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Stara Zagora Opera House.
Later that year, he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Leonardo Colafelice for the Piano and Friends Festival in Molfetta, conducting the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese (OFP).
In September 2019, he conducted the Bari Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with violinist Maria Serena Salvemini, performing works by Beethoven, Tartini, Saint-Saëns, and Haydn.
Since October 2019, he has collaborated with Maestro Simeone Tartaglione at the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland as Assistant Conductor of the MCYO Orchestra.
In April 2022, he made his debut at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari with the orchestra of the Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Teatro Petruzzelli. From July to August 2022, he conducted a 15-date summer tour with the ICO Symphony Orchestra of the Metropolitan City of Bari, accompanying jazz singer Emilia Zamuner in a pop/jazz program with arrangements by Vittorio Pasquale.
He then conducted the ICO Symphony Orchestra of Molise in several concerts throughout the region, featuring Vivaldi’s Gloria and works by Mozart. In December, at the Anglican Church in Naples, he conducted the Rotary Youth Chamber Orchestra (RYCO) with Maestro Bruno Canino at the piano, performing Bach’s Concerto No. 5 BWV 1056 and music by Elgar, Brahms, and J. Strauss.
Throughout 2023, he continued his commitment to educational projects for schools of all levels, promoting music with the ICO Symphony Orchestra of the Metropolitan City of Bari.
In March 2023, he conducted the ICO Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” for the “Concerti a Colazione” series at the Acclavio Library in Taranto.
That same month, for the “Pignatelli in Jazz” Festival at Villa Pignatelli in Naples, he conducted the Rotary Youth Chamber Orchestra accompanying bandoneonist Daniele Di Bonaventura in a program of original compositions by the soloist.
Also in March, he conducted the RYCO in the “From Baroque to Jazz” concert series organized by the Franco Michele Napolitano Association in Anacapri, performing works by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Grieg with flutist Salvatore Lombardi.
In September 2023, he conducted the ICO Symphony Orchestra of the Metropolitan City of Bari for the final concert of the Premio Rota 2023 (5th Edition) and later that month for a social outreach project bringing music to prisons and hospitals.
In October 2023, he conducted the same orchestra during the RAI Prix Italia Festival.
From 2024, he began his collaboration with Maestro Francesco Ivan Ciampa as Assistant Conductor, often preparing the orchestra and assisting in various operatic productions.
In September 2024, he served as Assistant Conductor to Maestro Gianna Fratta with the ICO Orchestra della Magna Grecia, preparing the ensemble for a Puccini recital at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.
In October 2024, he conducted the ICO Orchestra della Magna Grecia accompanying young violinist Paride Losacco.
During 2024 and 2025, he serves as Principal Conductor for educational projects with the ICO Symphony Orchestra of the Metropolitan City of Bari. In 2025, he conducted the New Scarlatti Orchestra for the New Year’s Concert at the Teatro Politeama in Naples.