Winner of the first prize at the XX International J.S. Bach Competition in Leipzig, Paolo Bonomini is currently Solo Cello in Camerata Salzburg, and is the teaching assistant of Jens Peter Maintz at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
His debut CD Violoncello Italiano, published by Genuin Classics, received praise from various sources and was declared ‚record of the month’ on Fono Forum, one of Germany’s main music magazines. A review on Italian music journal Archi spoke of the „beauty and uncommon qualities” found on the CD.
Paolo’s debut with orchestra was at the age of 15 performing Camille Saint-Sæns’ cello concerto. He has performed as soloist with orchestras across Europe, South America, and Australia, including Camerata Bern, Sinfonie Orchester Biel, Pauliner Kammerorchester, Odessa Chamber Orchestra, Virtuosi di Praga, Orchestra del Festival Pianistico di Brescia e Bergamo, and Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, and has performed multiple times live on Italy’s Radio RAI 3, as both soloist and chamber musician.
As a founding member of the Boccherini Trio, Paolo enjoys an active international chamber career, and has performed at venues such as Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Bach-Archiv in Leipzig, MITO Festival. He has also toured Italy’s most important theatres alongside Giovanni Sollima, as part of the project “Tenebrae, il principe dei Musici”, and has collaborated with other renowned musicians such as Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna, Franco Petracchi, Bruno Canino, Mario Brunello, Lucas Macias Navarro, Herbert Schuch, Tommaso Lonquich, Avo Kouyoumdjian.
Paolo has been invited to perform as Principal Cello in the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and regularly collaborates as guest Solo Cello with Camerata Bern and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Additionally, he has played in the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Luzern Festival Orchestra, and has played under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Harding, Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Roger Norrington and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Paolo completed his studies at the Hochschule der Künste Bern and Universität der Künst Berlin as a student of Mario Brunello, Antonio Meneses and Jens Peter Maintz, and has participated in masterclasses with Giovanni Sollima, Enrico Dindo and David Geringas. He has received additional training in chamber music from Rainer Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, Switzerland.
Interview
Im Gespräch mit Paolo Bonomini
Describe CAMERATA in three words of your mother tongue!
Familiare, Agile, Appassionata
How does making music in a chamber orchestra feel to you?
It feels like an extended chamber ensemble, like a big quartet with winds and percussion. Though the concertmaster or our guest leaders decide an interpretative line, inputs also come from the players: every musician counts and can make a difference. Playing in a chamber orchestra also often feels more like playing with each other than playing in a big symphonic group, where sometimes one just needs to follow the conductor.
If Mozart were still alive: what would you like to say to him?
After a most necessary and deep expression of gratitude, I would dare to ask if he could play a little something for me, on violin or piano, and I believe that would be a most precious moment of my life.
