Stefano Onorati is a pianist, composer and music arranger who was born in Livorno in 1966. He graduated in piano from the Mascagni Musical Institute and, in 2013, from the Jazz Biennium in Bologna, with highest honors. He attended Siena Jazz’s winter seminars (from 1989 to 1992) with Enrico Pieranunzi and Stefano Battaglia. He’s been playing jazz as a professional since 1993, attending national and international Festivals, Theatres and Jazz Clubs (Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, France, Slovenia, Corsica and United Kingdom).
He played and/or recorded with the following international artists:
Tom Harrell, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tony Scott, Steve Swallow, David Liebman, Eddie Henderson, Dave Weckl, Ernst Reijseger, Christian Escoudè, James Newton, Lew Tabackin, Dusko Goikovich, Jasper Bloom, Joris Roelefs, Robert Bonisolo, Gilad Atzmon, Charlie Wood, Pablo Menares, Francisco Mela, Spider Saloff, Arup Kantidas, Janosh Egri, Hanno Rinne, Gidon Nunes Vaz, Eelco Van del Wel…..
He played and/or recorded with the following Italian artists:
Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Roberta Gambarini, Pietro Tonolo, Maurizio Gianmarco, Gianni Basso, Gianluigi Trovesi, Roberto Gatto, Marco Tamburini, Gianluca Petrella, Francesco Bearzatti, Stefano Bollani, Paolo Damiani, Flavio Boltro, Claudio Fasoli, Maria Pia De Vito, Diana Torto, Ada Montellanico, Francesco Cafiso, Fulvio Sigurtà, Gegè Telesforo, Ettore Fioravanti, Bruno Tommaso, Tino Tracanna, Fulvio Sisti, Sandro Gibellini, Giovanni Tommaso, Roberto Cecchetto, Tiziana Ghiglioni, Fabrizio Sferra, Roberto Rossi, Ares Tavolazzi, John De Leo, Walter Paoli, Stefano Senni, Riccardo Fioravanti, Stefano Bagnoli, Gaia Mattiuzzi, Mario Raja, Massimo Manzi, Michele Rabbia, Giampaolo Casati, Roberto Occhipinti, Pietro Leveratto, Fabrizio Bosso, Fabio Zeppetella, Marco Micheli, Mauro Beggio, Fabio Morgera, Ellade Bandini, Massimo Moriconi, Luca Bulgarelli, Fabio Petretti, Steve Cantarano, Giuseppe Bassi, Marco Tiso, Klaus Lessman, Marcello Tonolo, Roberto Martinelli, Edoardo Righini, Alessandro Di Puccio, Massimo Nunzi, Andrea Melani, Michele Polga, Massimo Altomare, Mary Loscerbo, Mirko Guerrini, Tommaso Cappellato, Nicola Angelucci, Lucia Cappelli, Nicola Vernuccio, Barbara Casini, Raffaello Pareti, Mia Cooper, Claudio Capurro, Nico Gori, Alessandro Fabbri, Stefano “Cocco” Cantini, Mauro Negri, Franco Nesti, Stefano “Bedo” Bedetti, Antonio Licusati, Silvia Donati, Alberto Santarelli, Mauro Avanzini, Vittorio Alinari, Piero Borri, Dimitri Grechi Espinosa, Giorgio Cocilovo, Paolo Ghetti, Simone Zanchini, Cristina Zavalloni, Barbara Cola, Francesco Petreni, Piero Odorici, Paolo Costa, Tony Arco, Riccardo Onori, Rossano Emili, Achille Succi, Massimo Morganti, Dario Cecchini, Francesco Santucci, Roberto Nannetti, Diego Carraresi, Sergio Gistri, Andrea Dulbecco……
The main festivals, which he attended as a soloist pianist, are the following:
Umbria Jazz, Torino Jazz Festival, Porsche Jazz Festival, Radio Rai Fahreneit, Radio Tre Suite, “Earl’s Court” London, Martfest (Ankara – Turchia), Siena Jazz, Giornate del Jazz Italiano in Turchia (Istanbul), Barga Jazz Festival, Festival Internazionale del Jazz Sergio Amato, Dean Benedetti Jazz Festival, Wine Town Firenze, Serravalle Jazz, Volterra Jazz, Contemporanea Colline Festival, Caligola Nights, Vico Jazz Winter, Antiphonae Jazz, Veneto Jazz, Fano Jazz, Ferrara Jazz, Ank’Etno Winter Fest, Pontremoli Music Festival, Delta Blues, Giotto Jazz Festival, Grey Cat Festival, Macerata Jazz, Ancona Jazz, Fiesole Jazz Festival, Bergamo in Jazz, Festival Internazionale Santa Fiora, Saschall Firenze, Toscana Jazz, Future Best Jazz Pesaro, Festival delle Colline, Assisi Cambio Festival, Manifestazioni Verdiane Parma, Effetto Venezia (Livorno), Arezzo Winter Jazz Festival, Narni Black Festival, Anfiteatro Jazz Lucca, Orbetello Jazz, Jazz in It Vignola, SchlotterFäscht (Zurigo), Paradiso Jazz (Bologna), Venezze Jazz Festival (Rovigo), Arezzo Jazz, Ubi Jazz Winter, Candiani (Mestre) …….
The main Auditoriums, Theatres and Jazz Clubs (both Italian and non) who hosted him:
Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Blue Note (Conservatorio Amsterdam), Nardis (Istanbul), Palazzo dei Congressi Roma, Auditorium della Musica Roma, Teatro Carlo Felice (Genova), Teatro Sociale (Rovigo), Auditorium FLOG (Firenze), Teatro Studio (Firenze), Palazzo Soranzo-Cappello (Venezia), Naima (Forli), Bravo Caffè (Bologna), Auditorium Le Fornaci (Arezzo), Palazzo Visconti (Milano), Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Lubiana – Slovenia), Palazzo Manzioli (Izola – Slovenia), Auditorium Cariromagna (Forli), Teatro Romano (Fiesole), Cantina Bentivoglio (Bologna), FNAC (Milano, Torino, Napoli, Verona), Pinocchio Jazz Club (Firenze), Palazzo Festari (Vicenza), Auditorium Castano Primo (Milano), Teatro Angelo dal Foco (Pesaro), Al Vapore (Mestre), Il Torrione (Ferrara), Chet Baker (Bologna), Dr.Jazz (Pisa), La Palma (Roma), Teatro S.Maria della Scala (Siena), Teatro dei Rinnovati (Siena), Teatro dei Differenti (Barga – Lucca), Giardino Ducale (Modena), Marameo Jazz Club (Livorno), Teatro Puccini (Firenze), Teatro Persio Flacco (Volterra – Pisa), Anfiteatro Romano (Arezzo), Villa Carpegna (Roma)….
He was the Co-owner, with Nico Gori, of the group “Millenovecento” which made a record for Universal, featuring Tom Harrell. He worked for years with Marco Tamburini in the experimental trio “Three Lower Colours” with Stefano Paolini. Together they recorded the soundtrack to the film “Blood and Sand” and Melies’ “A Trip to the Moon”, which came out in April and May 2010 for the “Espresso”, featuring Lorenzo Jovanotti. The Trio collaborates with the “Vertere String Quartet” and the “Venezze Big Band”, a wind band from Rovigo’s Conservatory, where Onorati teaches since 2007. In his name they are the “Stefano Onorati Trio” with Stefano Senni and Walter Paoli and the “Stefano Onorati Quartet” with Raffaello Pareti, Tino Tracanna and Ettore Fioravanti. He plays in the Barga Jazz Orchestra, directed by B. Tommaso, since 2001. He collaborated with Walter Paoli and Andrea Guzzoletti for a project (“The Box”), involving electronics, improvisation and the visual support of live images.
He took part to the project along with three Conservatories: “RAR” (Rovigo, Amsterdam, Roma), with the partecipation of Paolo Damiani, Marco Tamburini and Edoardo Righini. They made a record on Misha Mengelberg’s musics and they hold concerts in Italy and Holland.
In 2012 he was invited to be a part of “The Legend Lives On” quartet, with Marco Tamburini, Edoardo Righini and Walter Paoli, as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix’s music. As a composer and an arranger, he has worked on many videos, theme songs, documentaries and advertising music for Rai, Mediaset, Sky, Iveco, Gastaldi and so on.
He is currently a tenured piano jazz professor at Rovigo’s Conservatory and teaches at the SJU (Siena Jazz University).
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