Comprising mostly of students and alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music of Manchester, the Michael Haydn Orchestra also brings together musicians from the leading collectives of the UK and abroad.
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We organize concerts that celebrate Manchester's cultural heritage, remembering important events that took place here. We present alongside Music, Culture, and History topics such as Freemasonry, Politics, and Spirituality. During our concerts, we will combine music-making with presentations in collaboration with leading specialists of the topics we seek to explore.
FOUNDER
MARCO BELLASI
Principal Conductor
Music Director
Prize-winning conductor, a dual citizen of Italy and Australia, Marco has recently finished his appointment as Junior-Fellow conductor at the Royal Northern College of Music.
In addition to the RNCM orchestra, he has worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Hallé Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini and the Ensemble 10/10.
His repertoire includes symphonic, choral, opera and contemporary music. He met critical success in the RNCM for his performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No 2, Prokoviev's Violin Concerto No 1 and Ravel’s 'La Valse'. He also conducted Stravinsky’s’ Feu d’Artifice’ in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Steve Reich’s’ Eight lines’ in the presence of the composer. He worked with Sir Mark Elder CBE and has assisted him at various times with the Hallé Orchestra. He was an active participant in the 2017 'Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy' where he worked with Riccardo Muti on Verdi's Aida and performed within a public concert in Ravenna Italy.
EDOARDO CASALI
Principal Bassoon
Artistic Consultant
Edoardo was born in Bologna and began studying the piano at the age of 9 and then bassoon at the age of 16 in Bologna with Lorenzo Bettini, graduating with top marks in 2015. He then studied at the RNCM with Stefano Canuti and Roberto Giaccaglia, graduating with Distinction.
He’s currently studying Composition at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan.
As a soloist he has perfomed concertos by Vivaldi, Michael Daugherty and C. M. Von Weber in both Italy and the UK.
As a passionate chamber musician he has performed with different groups: he's currently playing in a trio with Kimi Makino (Viola n. 2, BBC Philharmonic).
In 2016 he has been a member of the Italian Youth Orchestra and has perfomed with conductors such as Daniele Gatti, Jurah Valchua, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Andris Poga and Alexander Lonquich. According to his interest in performing contemporary music, he's been selected to perform at the Britten Pears Young Artist Program 2019 (Composition & Performance) at Snape Maltings - and to take part in the NEXT Programme with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group for the years 2019/2020.
He has also worked with the Orchestra Giovanile Cherubini and Riccardo Muti, The Hallè, BBC Philharmonic and Manchester Camerata.
He has been touring in Italy, Europe and China.
CO-FOUNDER
SAVVA ZVEREV
Violin Soloist
Conductor
“I thought to myself, ‘May thy pure and peaceful spirit hover around me, dear Haydn! If I can ever become like thee, peaceful and guileless, in all matters none on earth has such deep reverence for thee as I have.’ (Sad tears fell from my eyes. . . .)” Franz Schubert wrote these words in his diary after visiting Michael Haydn's grave in Salzburg.
Michael Haydn and the Path to Enlightenment
Michael Haydn (1737-1806) was Salzburg’s leading composer during his lifetime and a respected composition teacher who taught, amongst others, C.M. Von Weber, the father of the Romantic German Opera. Michael Haydn was Leopold Mozart’s contender at the court of Salzburg and had a strong musical influence over his son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Young Mozart absorbed Michael Haydn's style and his great knowledge of counterpoint during the years he spent in Salzburg. Even when Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna he continued to be inspired by Michael Haydn's old and new compositions which he often got on loan from him, and which he copied; he sometimes even reworked some of these into his compositions. Michael Haydn's name and oeuvre were overshadowed for unexplained reasons after his death; perhaps this happened because of the ever-growing fame of his elder brother Joseph Haydn or perhaps because his figure would come into the way of a popularised false image of Mozart as a genius that needed no teachers or roots. Inaccurate accounts about Michael Haydn's life started to proliferate which resulted in diminishing, even more, the importance of his role in the history of the music of that time. As a result, we were also deprived of the full picture of W.A. Mozart's genius and of a crucial artistic influence on which he drew. Even if Michael Haydn enjoyed success and Royal commissions during his lifetime eventually his music faded away from the proscenium. The name Michael Haydn perfectly represents our aim to go beyond classical music stereotypes, engaging our audience to dig deeper into the mysteries surrounding genius and creativity.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCE
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