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Irene Bianco is an eclectic percussionist and a curious artist who loves to cross boundaries and experiment with different music genres.

From some years, Irene has been particularly interested in electronic music, free improvisation and composition.

She thinks of life and music as one thing, and she is trying to further explore this synchronic oneness when she performs as well as in everyday life.

 

Studies:

Irene started her musical training in Italy, where she first played drum set and then switched her focus onto classical percussion.

She earned her first diploma from the Conservatory of Vicenza (with M. Guido Facchin), and then attended the Conservatory of Padua (with M. Massimo Pastore), where she graduated with full marks.

In Copenhagen, Denmark, where she is now based, Irene completed her MA in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, under Gert Mortensen and Johan Bridger.

Between 2017 and 2020 she attended the Soloist Class (Advanced Post-Graduate course) at the Syddansk Musik Konservatorium in Odense, with Søren Monrad.

While attending her percussion training masterclasses, Irene partecipated in different electronic music meet-up promoted by Artlab, Muve and Rumkraft (Copenhagen 2016/2017), free improvisation workshops (among others, with Mark Applebaum, Roberto Dani, Frank Gratkowski, Manon–Liu Winter, Le Quan Ninh), and she was granted a mentorship in composition with Jeppe Just Christensen by Dkf (Dansk Komponist Forening) in 2019.

Recently, following her desire to explore hands technique possibilities, she started playing tabla and learning Indian music with Jan Kedereit. 

 

 

Collaborations:

Irene collaborated with different orchestras for many years: Orchestra J. Futura International, I Solisti Veneti, Orchestra Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, Orchestra dei Conservatori del Veneto. She also played in different chamber music ensembles: Tammittam Percussion Ensemble, Art Percussion Ensemble, Percurama, Chigiana Percussion Ensemble, Nuances Matices Trio, Nuovelles Mysticanze band, Elephant Mobile.

As a passionate performer of contemporary and avant-garde music, she received in solo the second Prize at the international competition for Contemporary Music “Città di Treviso” and performed at festivals and courses, such as Plus Percussion Festival (Stockholm 2018), Trestenice Symposium (Czech Republic 2018), Impuls Festival Graz (Austria 2017), Time of Music Academy Viitassarii ( Finland 2016+2017), Pulsar Contemporary Music Festival in Denmark, Chigiana International Summer Festival (Italy, 2015+2016) Ravello Festival (2016), Astaper Festival (Poland, 2013+2014). She was one of the six selected percussionists in residence at Bang on a Can 2019 in North Adams (USA), and the same year she was selected by Fondazione Cini in Venice for the workshop Research-Led Performance, Percussione creazione.

Irene is the percussionist of Damkapellet Collective https://www.damkapellet.com/, The Young Immigrants https://www.facebook.com/theyoungimmigrants. and Wolfskin Ensemble. She is a member of the Italian Bacan Sounds Network Program https://www.musicabacan.net/sounds-network-program,and freelances actively in different projects of the contemporary music scene and free improvised scene (latest collaborations include Sandra Boss, Tanja Schlander, Canyf, Kirstine Lindemann and Kirstine Vindelev, Kymatic).

Irene is the curator, together with Sarah Buchner of https://knaekmusik.dk, online concert calendar for experimental live music in Copenhagen.

 

Last teaching:

Irene has been teaching percussion at Rytmisk Musik Center in Copenhagen and at Ringsted Lilleskole. She is teaching privately at https://www.instrumentundervisning.dk/musiklaerer/irene and https://musikundervisning.dk/musikunderviser/Irene/1NpMeg6c8i.