Federico Mondelci

In the last 20 years, the Italian saxophonist Federico Mondelci has established himself as one of the leading saxophonists of his generation. His principal studies were at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica ‘G. Rossini’ in Italy and later with Jean-Marie Londeix at the Bordeaux Conservatoire, France. In 1981, he was awarded the Premier Prix et Medaille d’Or à l’Unanimité.

Federico Mondelci has represented Italy on several occasions at the World Saxophone Congress and was president of the X World Saxophone Congress, Pesaro (Italy) 1992. He made his prestigious career debut as a soloist with orchestra in 1982, on the occasion of the 7th World Saxophone Congress in Nuremberg, where he was strongly encouraged by Marcel Mule.

He then began an international career that saw him as a protagonist with over 50 symphony orchestras all over the world, including the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at La Scala in Milan (under the direction of Seiji Ozawa performing the Rhapsody of Debussy) with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Bangkok Sypmphony, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra at the Cairo Opera House, the Yerevan Opera Theater with the Opera Theater Symphony Orchestra from Yerevan, to the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, Georgia State Symphony Orchestra and with prestigious chamber orchestras including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, I Virtuosi Italiani, the Moscow Soloists under the direction of Yuri Bashmet…

Federico Mondelci was an active promoter of contemporary music and an innovator of instrumental technique. Numerous compositions have been dedicated to him that today are in the repertoire of saxophonists from all over the world, including Gate by Graham Fitkin, Four Pictures of New York by Roberto Molinelli, Signature by Henri Pousseur, Kya by Giacinto Scelsi, The Textures of a Labyrinth of Armando Gentilucci and another 180 new pieces including pieces for solo saxophone, duo, saxophone and piano, saxophone quartet, saxophone orchestra and Concertos for saxophone and orchestra that he performed as "premiere" in festivals and concert series around the world.

During his career he has worked alongside some of the greatest composers of the 20th century such as Philip Glass, Giya Kancheli, Luciano Berio, Giacinto Scelsi, Michael Nyman, Franco Donatoni, Henri Pousseur, Luigi Nono, Salvatore Sciarrino, Armando Gentilucci, Graham Fitkin, Nicola Piovani and many other composers of the new generation. His recording of Kya by Giacinto Scelsi, was awarded with the "Diapason d'Or" and a CD for RCA included music written for him by Italian composers. His recordings also include the Chandos and Delos labels.

In 2006, Mondelci presented the world premiere of the Concert for saxophone and orchestra by New Zealand composer John Psathas.

He is Professor of Saxophone at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro since 1981, he is a member and founder of the Italian Saxophone Quartet and director of the Italian Saxophone Orchestra. The 2019-2020 concert tour includes Italy, France, Austria, Armenia, Israel, Russia, the United States, Egypt, China.