Locations

Ricciotti ensemble: a Symphony Orchestra for everyone, everywhere!

Have you ever heard of a symphony orchestra that performs concerts between the grapevines, among olive pickers on the 'Latifú ndios' or in a port cave in Porto? The Ricciotti ensemble will play literally anywhere in the world; atop Table Mountain, at the Red Square, in the Surinam Rainforest or -in the future- on the moon... The Ricciotti believes that everyone should be able to enjoy good music, no matter who or where he is; the Ricciotti will perform for twenty-seven prisoners in C Block, for refugees in a refugee camp or for fifteen-hundred teenagers at a festival.

The Ricciotti aims to bring high-quality music to people who, for whatever reason, have little or no contact with live symphonic music. This is why the ensemble rarely performs in concert halls; instead of having people come to them, they prefer to play for people in their own surroundings. This is how the Ricciotti, for thirty-two years now, has been performing music. They play in factories and offices, in jails and schools, in hospitals and nursing homes acting out there motto: 'Music everywhere, for everyone'. But it also means you could run into a Ricciotti performance in any street or square.

Repertoire

Never expect a dull concert from this company - any Ricciotti performance is a thrill. Nothing is predictable. The ensemble plays highly varied repertoire, picked from four centuries of music. Mozart now, Lady Gaga next, no problem. Five minutes after socking it to you in " Rock Around the Clock", the soloist has combed the grease out of his hair to move into the delicate sensibilities of a Gustav Mahler Lied. The orchestra is capable of playing any type of music excellently: classical as well as modern music, opera and jazz, film scores and pop music. Different composers from all over the world have written and arranged three hundred pieces especially for the Ricciotti ensemble. When the company plays abroad, it adds a composition from that country to its repertoire.

Locations

The Ricciotti is quick and flexible. Within two (!) minutes they are able to put together

an entire orchestra on any unusual concert venue. The ensemble does not limit itself to human audiences: it once played in front of a thousand sheep and gave a coffee-time concert for a gathering of sea-lions! Not every performance is announced: sometimes the musicians make a spur-of-the-moment decision to give a concert, taking their listeners completely by surprise.