About

Giovanni Ottomano with a saxophone

Giovanni Ottomano (Castellana Grotte, 2000) is an Italian saxophonist who places sound at the centre of his path, with a vocation for sound research and the music of our time.

He trained at the Conservatorio “Nino Rota” in Monopoli, then at the Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan (class of Daniele Comoglio). He completed his studies at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) with a Master of Music Performance in the class of Lars Mlekusch, alongside a minor in orchestral conducting with Iwan Wassilevski. His graduation recital, “L’infinito e i suoi limiti” (2026), presented a programme emblematic of his path (Sciarrino, Leroux, Scelsi, Van Parys, Fujikura, Berio), confirming a personal and mature reading of the contemporary saxophone repertoire.

A prizewinner in international competitions, he has furthered his studies with figures such as Claude Delangle, Timothy McAllister, Arno Bornkamp, Federico Mondelci and Christian Wirth. His concert career has taken him to international festivals in France, Romania, Latvia and Italy, alongside a constant presence on the Zurich scene, as a soloist and with the Zurich Saxophone Collective directed by Lars Mlekusch.

He is a member of the Arioso Saxophone Quartet in Zurich and of Quartetto Interludo in La Spezia, with which he has played in series such as Lunae Musica and the Rencontres Musicales de Méditerranée in Corsica. Since 2022 he has collaborated with the Orchestra Italiana di Sassofoni directed by Federico Mondelci, and he appeared alongside pianist Maurizio Baglini in the production of the Rai documentary “Il Bosco delle Emozioni” (2023).

Awards

Giovanni Ottomano playing the saxophone on a dark stage

Education

A baritone saxophone on its stand in a pool of yellow stage light