Piccola Accademia degli Specchi (Little Academy of Mirrors) is a chamber ensemble, based and founded in Roma (Italy) in late 2000, specializing in the performance of contemporary classical music. Its original and characteristic instrumentation (piano 4 hands, cello, violin, alto/soprano saxophone, flute/piccolo), similar but different to the common Pierrot ensemble set up, and the outstanding musicianship of its members provide its unique sound and groove. Founder members are Matteo Sommacal (artistic direction), Giovanni Rosati (piano), Assunta Cavallari (piano), Donato Cedrone (cello), Valerio Marchitelli (violin), Claudia Di Pietro (alto/soprano sax), Alessandra Amorino (flute/piccolo).
Current members are Fabio Silvestro (piano), Assunta Cavallari (piano), Kyung Mi Lee (cello), Giuliano Cavaliere (violin), Claudia Di Pietro (alto/soprano sax), Alessandra Amorino (flute/piccolo).
In these last years, Piccola Accademia degli Specchi (PADS) has emerged as one of the most interesting contemporary chamber music ensembles in Italy and has attracted the attention of living Italian and international composers, such as Stephen Cohn (USA), Francesco Di Fiore (Italy), Douwe Eisenga (The Netherlands), Matthias Kadar (France/The Netherlands), Pavel Karmanov (Russia), Bruno Letort (France), Irma Ravinale (Italy), Demetrius Spaneas (USA), and William Susman (USA). The repertoire of the ensemble, that pays particular attention to the so-called minimalist and post-minimalist experiences, includes contemporary authors like Louis Andriessen, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, Simon Jeffes, Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Giovanni Sollima, and an ever-increasing number of living composer from all over the world.
PADS performed in many live events in Italy, including concert-lessons and radio programs about contemporary music and post-minimalist currents, and it is regularly invited to participate to the major music festivals in Italy (among the others, the "Luigi Nono" International Contemporary Music Festival in Trieste, "Cantiere Musica" in Bracciano and "September Concert", "Nuovi Spazi Musicali", and "Suona Francese" in Roma). Music performed by PADS has been featured on Echoes (the syndicated NPR show) and on John Schaefer's "New Sounds" on WNYC in the U.S. and on Concertzender in the Netherlands. The ensemble has been receiving increasing attention and positive reviews in the international press (Klassieke Zaken, American Record Guide, Corriere della Sera, Mania Klassiek) and on the internet.
PADS performed and recorded several original movie soundtracks, mainly for documentaries and independent cinematographic productions, such as Ruggero Lancia's movie "Candidamente" (Italy, 2000), Michele Imperio's documentary "La Resistenza nella Provincia di Roma"/"The Partisan Resistance in the Province of Rome", with the sponsorship of the Province of Rome (Italy, 2006), and Simona Marziani's documentary "Macchia Madre" (Italy, 2008). Compositions by Matteo Sommacal, performed by the Piccola Accademia degli Specchi, were chosen as the soundtrack for "me*: Marine Equipment" (Belgium, 2008), last EMEC's (European Marine Equipment Council) advertisement video.
Since its foundation, the diffusion of new music composed by living Italian composers has been one of the main aims of PADS. The ensemble performed several World and Italian premiËres of dedicated scores and arrangements. Piccola Accademia degli Specchi recorded compositions by Philip Glass, Wim Mertens and Matteo Sommacal ("Minimamachta", Centaur Record, USA, 2009), and music by Douwe Eisenga ("House of Mirrors", Zefir Records, The Netherlands, 2011).
www.piccolaaccademiadeglispecchi.com
