Alessandro Serra
Biography
Alessandro Serra has been a member of the Teatro alla Scala Opera Orchestra and La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996. From 1992 to 1996 Alessandro was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, performing under Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, and Mstislav Rostropovich. In 2000 was part of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Harding.
In 1999, Alessandro won second prize at the prestigious Giovanni Bottesini International Competition and second prize at the International Chamber Music Competition at the Gubbio festival (Perugia) In 2002 he was placed second in the audition for the principal double bass position at La Scala, and he has been selected by Riccardo Muti to play as guest principal where necessary. Since then he has played under conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, and many others, often also as principal double bass. In 2016, 2017, and 2019 he was a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly. In 2018 he was invited to perform as guest principal at the Royal Swedish Opera House in Stockholm for a production of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss under Alan Gilbert. In the same year he was also guest principal with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in Norway for a performance of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony under Han-na Chang. In 2018 at the BassEurope Congress in Lucca, he was a member of the jury for the International Solo Competition. In 2019 he took part in a project with the Orchestra MusicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis.
As a soloist, Alessandro has toured in countries including Italy, Brasil, Switzerland, and Bulgaria. In 1999 he recorded an album of Bottesini Concertos for the New York record label Music Minus One. He is also member of Cameristi della Scala and Ensemble 900. Alessandro Serra studied with Franco Petracchi, Giuseppe Ettorre, and Raffaello Majoni. He has regularly given masterclasses at the Bertinoro Entroterre Summer Music Festival since 2006 and the Easter Chamber Music Festival in Cervo since 2010. In 2016 gave also a Summer Master Course for Arteria Cultur in Matera.
