Biography
Career beginnings
Enrico Olivanti was born on 4/10/1988 in Marino laziale (Rome).
He started playing the guitar at the age of 13 as a self-taught student and eventually studied classical music under the direction of Antonio Pappadà at the Forum Music School of Ciampino. He kept on studying jazz guitar with Dario Lapenna at Saint Louis College of Music and, in 2006, took part in several courses at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with Sheryl Bailey, Ken Cervenka, Mike Williams, Gary Burton , obtaining a scholarship to attend the prestigious American university. In the same year he obtained a scholarship to take part in the Musicorienta project, curated by Vittorio Nocenzi, and became a member of the Roma Electric Orchestra, for which he played the role of third guitarist and then first soloist. He played in various jazz ensembles such as the Miles Ahead jazz trio and the Mario Nappi Quintet. Besides performing, he worked in the field of composition, first with Gianluca Podio and Ferdinando Nazzaro, then with Luciano Pelosi and Alessandro Cusatelli at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, where he completed his Bachelor’s degree with the highest marks.
The first formations
At the beginning of 2009 he founded the Enrico Olivanti quintet with which in November of the same year he recorded the first CD “SOVRUMANI SILENZI”, receiving an excellent response by critics and audience. In 2009 he became the guitarist of Marcello Rosa New Sextet, playing with him in the best clubs and events of the capital. In 2011 he was a founding member of eXit ORCHESTRA, a big band established in Rome, with which he published the album “Number One” with pieces composed by Marcello Rosa and guests such as Javier Girotto, Fabrizio Bosso, Max Ionata, Roberto Schiano, Elvio Ghigliordini , Aldo Bassi, Roberto Rossi.
With his Quintet in 2014 he published his second album, the seven-parts Suite “Il Pensiero Positivo”, presented in Rome in various exhibitions and events. His compositional activity led him to create works for solo instruments (Piano, Bayan Accordion), Chamber Orchestra (Gli Arcadi, SLMC Chamber Ensemble, Synapsis Ensemble), Jazz Orchestra (HfMDD Jazz Orchestra), Symphony Orchestra (Landesjugendorchester Sachsen, Orchestra Giovanile of Rome, Mittelsächsische Philharmonie, Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie), Experimental and Music for Film, with works performed in various countries and continents of the world, including Italy, Germany, Austria, Peru, Spain, United States of America.
He lived in Germany, first in Berlin and then in Dresden, where he kept on studying composition with Thomas Zoller in a Master’s degree at the Hochschule fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber supported by a scholarship provided by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and then entered the Meisterklasse (High Specialization Course) by also winning the prestigious Sächsisches Landesstipendium.
In early 2017 he was invited to the Linz Conservatory (Austria) as a guest to present his album with a band formed by students from that Institute.
In Germany he founded his own ensemble formed of 10 musicians, the NEU Ensemble, with which he regularly performs in concerts ranging across Modern Jazz, Neue Musik, Music for Theater and Electronics /Multimedia.
Live music
During his still short career he has played at important festivals and exhibitions such as: Brindisi in Jazz 2008, Villa Celimontana 2008, Atina Jazz 2008, 4 Notti e più di luna piena 2008, Frammenti 2006, Roma Jazz’s Cool 2009, Atina in JAZZ 2009, Jammin jazz festival 2009, Nick La Rocca International Jazz Festival 2009, Ciampino Jazz Festival 2011, Umbria Jazz 2011, Auditorium Parco della Musica and Casa del Jazz.
He performed with: Vittorio Nocenzi, Claudio Micheli, Daniele Scannapieco, Rosario Giuliani, Susanna Stivali, Sergio Di Natale, Annibale Guarino, Marcello Rosa, Valentina Piccioni, Javier Girotto, Angelo Olivieri, Carlo Micheli, Enrico Intra, Fabrizio Bosso, Bepi D’Amato, Max Ionata, Saint Louis Big Band, HfMDD Jazz Orchestra, Mittelsächsische Philharmonie, Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie, Ensemble des Freundeskreis der Landesbühne Sachsen.
