as part of the Fabbrica Europa 2025 festival
Pages of contemporary music open to connections with other eras, in a constant balance between exploration, education, and outreach.
Cellist Francesco Dillon, known for his career with the Quartetto Prometeo, will work from 2025 to 2027 with young cello talents from the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole on the project 8.
Renowned for his versatility and ongoing quest for new modes of musical expression, Dillon, professor of cello at Fiesole since 2020 and internationally acclaimed for the originality and breadth of his repertoire, leads a path of discovery and reflection on music and its ever-evolving forms.
The number 8, which gives the project its title, evokes infinite cycles, new beginnings, and boundless possibilities. And eight are the musicians, united by surprising soundscapes that expand the expressive possibilities of the cello in unexpected way in an unexpected dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary.
Involved in this first phase of the project with two new works are also composers Paolo Aralla, with his reinterpretation of Monteverdi, and Giuliano Bracci, with Frescobaldi.
Francesco Dillon has an outstanding international career marked by the originality and variety of the repertoire he explores. His intense solo activity has brought him to prestigious stages such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Jordan Hall in Boston, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Hakuju Hall in Tokyo, and the Cologne Philharmonie. He has performed with orchestras including the Filarmonica della Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, RSO Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón, Ensemble Resonanz, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Oulu Sinfonia Finland, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, and MusikFabrik. He has worked with conductors such as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Susanna Mälkki, Luciano Berio, Peter Rundel, and Johannes Kalitzke. Among his recent engagements are his participation in the 2024 Cello Biennale Amsterdam as soloist in a new concerto by Silvia Borzelli, a solo appearance at Casa da Música in Porto with the Remix Ensemble, a solo tour in Japan in spring 2025, and a recital at Teatro alla Scala as part of the Milano Musica festival.
Among his upcoming engagements are his participation in the 2025 Festival Internacional Cervantino and a new project in collaboration with IRCAM in Paris, which will be presented at the Présences Festival in Paris and Milano Musica in 2026.
A Festival Fabbrica Europa production in collaboration with Scuola di Musica di Fiesole
photo (detail): Monia Pavoni