Mario Cecchetti

Tenor and cellist, Director of the Castello School of Music, Musical and Artistic Director of the Octava Aurea Association.

After his début as a cellist in young chamber ensembles, he dedicated himself to voice activities, specialising in Baroque repertoire, and collaborating with leading experts of the period. A concert performer of international standing, he performed for the major Italian and foreign theatres and organisations including the Chatelet and Odeon Theatres in Paris, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mozarteum for the Salzburg Festival, Carnegie Hall in New York, and Kioi Hall in Tokyo under the guidance of Maestro Maurizio Pollini for the Pollini II project.

He has recorded around 40 CDs for Tactus, Divox, Frequenz, Bongiovanni, Nuova Era, Virgin Classic, K617, Hungaroton and Ricordi.
He has taken part in radio broadcasts for RAI radio 3, RAI Uno, RAI Sat, and for Dutch and Swiss radio and television.

Along with his artistic activities, he has dedicated himself to music education as Director of the G. Puccini Municipal School of Music of Castello, and the Octava Aurea Association which provides vocal training for infants and young people.

He conducted Benjamin Britten’s opera The Little Sweep for the Festival delle Nazioni di Città of Castello, and prepared and conducted the Children’s Choir in Christian Carrara’s contemporary opera La piccola Vedetta lombarda.
In June 2014, he curated and conducted the musical theater piece In cosa ti somiglio, by Raffaele Sargenti, which was performed at Teatro Cucinelli in Solomeo in collaboration with the G.B. Martini Conservatory in Bologna.