Curriculum Vitae
Andrea Pestalozza was born in Milan.
After his activity as pianist and percussionist he started as conductor with the Ensemble Orfeo, founded by himself, presenting for the first time in Italy compositions by Takemitsu and Hosokawa, which were followed by Berio's invitation to conduct his transcriptions of Mahler and Rendering of Schubert with the Orchestre National de France in the frame of the Festival Presence in Paris.
His repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary music of which he is an impassioned scholar. In 1990 he had his first meeting with György Kurtág who had a decisive effect on his interpretative approach. As pianist in ...quasi una fantasia... and after having conducted Messages of the Late R.V. Troussova in Paris, Genova and Turin with the Ensemble Itineraire in the author's presence, he was invited by Kurtág himself to conduct the UMZE and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Budapest, where he presented for the first time in Hungary Morte di Borromini by Salvatore Sciarrino and La Gondole sur la lagune by Hugues Dufourt.
Impassioned interpreter of Toshio Hosokawa he presented at the Biennale di Venezia the first ever performance of his Voyage V and he again conducted the Saarbruecken Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester with a monographic programme dedicated to him, amongst which wasMetamorphosis (soloist Eduard Brunner).
In 2008 on the occasion of a concert in Berlin he made the first ever world-wide recording of Deva et Asura by Claude Vivier and in 2009 he conducted the first ever Italian performance of Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima by Hosokawa with the Hiroshima's choir and the Orchestra Nazionale della RAI
He has given concerts in the most recognized institutions: Paris (Orchestre National de France), Berlin (Festwochen, Konzerthaus), Budapest, Nice (Teatro dell'Opera), Lisboa (Teatro Sao Carlos), Moscow, Leningrado, Krasnoyarsk, Thessaloniki, Milan (Teatro alla Scala, Orchestra RAI, Pomeriggi Musicali), Florenz (Maggio Musicale, Orchestra Regionale Toscana), Venice (Teatro La Fenice, La Biennale), Palermo (Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana), Bologna (Bologna Festival), Rome (Nuova Consonanza, Filarmonica Romana, Orchestra Regionale del Lazio), Turin (Orchestra Nazionale della Rai, Unione Musicale, De Sono), Ferrara (Ensemble Oriol) etc.
In 2010 he conducted in Oslo the Oslo Sinfonietta and in Milan Cassandre by Jarrell with Fanny Ardant and the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker
