International touring Handpan musician, Composer, Percussionist, Performer and Traveller.
He has an emotional and instinctive connection to the music.
Friello's music reaches its peak when performed live and that's where it explodes in all its strengh and softness.
He has performed in numerous Theaters including Auditorium laVerdi and the Foyer of Arcimboldi Theater in Milan, Parco della Musica in Rome, Verdi Theater, Cine-Theater Alfieri, Auditorium Sant'Apollonia and Sala Vanni in Florence, Duse Theater in Bologna, Camploy Theater in Verona, Cristallo Theater of Bolzano, Convitto Nazionale Cicognini Theater in Prato e Cine-Theater Buonarroti of Civitavecchia.
Over the years, he played in many Festivals and as a guest of numerous exhibitions including the Hang Loose Festival Hawaii, Handpan Festival France, HangOut UK, Heart Culture Festival and Visionary Art Academy in Austria, Atitlan Festival and the WWF Earth Hour in Guatemala, Piano City Festival in Milan, World Music Festival in San Gimignano and Bhakti Festival, International Academy of Fine Art "TIAC", International Handmade Show, International Symposium of Sustainable Universities, Convention "Winter is not coming" in collaboration with WWF and Florence University, at RedFeltrinelli, "Meyer" Children's Hospital also in Florence and at Multi-Sclerose National Institute in Belgium.
He also played at the HandpanHouse Germany, at HandpanHouse Italy, Handpan Academy in Belgium, as main guest at Living Room sESSion in Switzerland and held a series of workshops and concerts in Asia in Singapore, in Latin-America, in the United States as well as in Europe.
He studied at Educational Music Accademy in Milan, Italy.
On the occasion of Davide Friello's Opening Concert at Teatro Verdi in Florence during the first of "Quarto Tempo Tour" by Maestro Cacciapaglia, the new album "IMMERSION" was released, produced with Ema Edition and distributed worldwide by Believe Digital.
He has three studio self-productions: "Ritmatika", "Violin & Hang" and "5 Elements".
He also collaborated, with the track "Merope", on "Room 2401" album of pianist Giulia Mazzoni produced by Sony Music; the album also features Michael Nyman, one of the greatest exponents of minimalist music.
His compositions can also be found in five compilations and collections: "Handpan Festival France", "Inward Journey" , "Passages" and "Neo Composer Piano &" Volume I and Volume II
His compositions (often created specifically for the occasion) are used for short films, video installations and theatrical performances.
His music was selected like part of the soundtrack of the movie "Zitta" in Italy
He has played as during numerous photographic pictorial exhibitions and book presentations including the presentation of "Il cane, il lupo e Dio" written by Folco Terzani and hosted at the Waldorf School of Florence.
He also had a Handpan crafting experience in the Meraki Instruments Laboratory, one of the best in the World.
In addition to concert activity he currently offers Workshops and Masterclass about the Handpan.
He regularly conducts Sound Massage sessions and Meditation concerts.
He collaborates with many Holistic and Yoga Centers and with Asmana Wellness Center, the largest wellness center in Italy, AlpenPalace, resort and Spa in Sudtirol, winner of numerous world awards as the best in the Wellness sector, with the Music Therapy Studio in Bolzano, "Nel Suono" Music Therapy Studio of Trento, Bio-Natural Disciplines Study Center "Na.Me" of Florence and played during several national meetings of Siaf Italia, professional association of holistic operators.
- Complete Biography -
Born in Florence on 13 June 1983 under the sign of Gemini ascending Sagittarius and Ajmac as Nahual Maya.
It grows at the Case Minime of Rovezzano where the main square from 2016 is named after his grandfather Raffaele Bongo, soul of the cultural and sports activities of the popular district.
This looks like a very difficult reality in the 80s and 90s and at the same time stimulating with so much life on the street.
Here as a child he has his first contacts with music thanks to the musical laboratories of Jaka, a prominent musician of the reggae scene, who regularly arrived in the neighborhood with a van / studio to bring young people closer to art in that complicated social context and degradation.
When he was very young he attended modern and contemporary dance schools.
He receives numerous category awards and is the Tuscan champion paired with his sister and Italian Dance-Show Team Champion with his own school.
Later as a boy he shows an aptitude for percussion. He receives valuable lessons from African and Brazilian masters and develops his own rhythmic style with a strong improvisational nature and expressive power.
He animates various university and public parties with his djembe, darbuka and recycled batteries.
He is percussionist in some local bands and in a duo with guitar, the "Bon Fire". After the schools his adventurous nature begins to take shape, the love for natural landscapes and an instinctive form of anthropological-cultural study of the peoples he visits.
He undertakes long journeys especially in southern Spain and Sicily with little or no economic funds.
As a result of his university studies and student collectives militancy, first in Florence and then in Milan, he attended the film directing course at the "Immagina" school led by director Giuseppe Ferlito, collaborating on the movie "L'affarista"
Immediately afterwards, he begins a long series of wanderings that will take him to more than 50 countries on 4 continents in which he comes into contact with many local musical cultures that will form him artistically.
In 2010 he made a long solo journey throughout South America during which he made videos for a travelogue.
In 2011 after Mexico explores Guatemala where he enters a Central American street circus project ("La sexta") with other musicians, jugglers, clowns, actors, magicians and acrobats performing in official events, conventions, city squares, clubs and locals on the Pacific and Caribbean beaches, between Honduras, El Salvador and Belize.
Also in Guatemala, in the capital, he takes care of the Percussion and Rhythm laboratories and workshops at the Municipalidad de la ciudad de Guatemala and performs with his students in front of thousands of people during government celebrations.
In that period he alternated the activity of percussionist, teacher and performer with that of itinerant craftsman of Macramè and semi-precious stones to continue to move in economic autonomy and independence.
For the winter solstice of 2011 he plays with his percussions on top of the pyramid II of the archaeological complex of Tikal during the eclipse of the Moon at the end of the Mayan population ceremonies and is among the very few non-indigenous present.
Back in Europe, at the end of 2012 he meets by chance his first Hang, the last invented instrument in the World, falls in love with it and begins to deepen its rhythmic and melodic potential.
Begins a journey throughout much of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka to the island of Borneo.
Here he begins to perform improvisations (even in squares) that continue for hours and where he attracts many listeners.
As in April in Ventiane (Laos) on the day of the city market (Riverside Night Market) where a real concert is created - a performance with a huge crowd of people gathered for word of mouth and sitting on the steps of the great square on the banks of the Mekong river.
During the long journey collaborations are soon born with other local artists and traveling musicians; his music is chosen as the theme for an American Sky TV program, "The Pilgramage".
The same producers of the series produce in Thailand a demo cd with his Hang in a makeshift studio.
The album will be called ConFusion.
Back in Italy he participates in workshops organized by Hardcase Technologies on the occasion of the Dream Event, held by some of the greatest exponents of percussion and of the World Music in general.
In the summer of 2013 he gets his second artisan Handpan (after three years of waiting) commissioned to a Spanish manufacturer, followed by other instruments created by a craftsman from Sicily and then from Belgium, Romania and Russia.
The activity of live and improvisations continues in the squares in Europe and above all in Tuscany in the medieval villages. Since 2014 he has held the permanent license as a musician in the city of Florence, with the possibility of performing in the squares of the historic Unesco heritage center.
Here he often offers impromptu concerts in various places as in the frame of the Uffizzi Gallery.
Again in Latin America he creates a music and dance performance with fire with the dancer Michelle Gallardo at the Landivar University during the WWF Earth Hour 2014 in Guatemala.
He has three studio self-productions:
in 2014 he recorded the album "Ritmatika" where we find pieces "only" with his Hang and Handpan as well as mergers with other classical and ethnic instruments;
in 2015 he recorded "Violin & Hang" an improvisation album with the German violinist Mlitz-Hussain;
in 2016 he recorded the album "5 Elements" commissioned as the soundtrack of "India", first Indian cuisine born in Italy, in which he experimented with the fusion of nature sounds and digital synthesizers.
In 2015 he participated in the Giulia Mazzoni album "Room 2401" produced and distributed in 2016 by Sony Music with "Merope", original composition for Piano and Handpan. The album also features Michael Nyman, one of the greatest exponents of minimalist music in the world.
In summer 2015 he plays at the World Music Festival and NotteLucenti in the historic village of San Gimignano.
Late 2015 returns to Asia, this time to Singapore, where he performs on several occasions in Orchad Road during the christmas holiday season and then move to Hong Kong where he plays for the Chinese New Year celebrations in February.
Early 2016 accompanies Giulia Mazzoni in the presentation of her album at the Red Feltrinelli in Florence and plays at concerts in Sala Vanni, again in Florence and in the one at the Teatro del Convitto Nazionale Cicognini in Prato.
He is a guest musician of the famous "International Handicraft Show" of Florence in the editions of 2015, 2016 and 2018.
In September 2016 is selected together with other composers (the only non-pianist) to attend the Educational Music Academy in Milan, directed by Maestro Roberto Cacciapaglia.
The beginning of 2017 sees him again in Guatemala where he founded the Tambour Collective, a group of musicians from all over the world, with whom he performed for two months on tour in the area of Lake Atitlan.
They participate in the Atitlan Festival and play in numerous clubs and holistic retreat centers.
The last Ecstatic Dance concert remains memorable, lasting many hours without pause at Yoga Forest in San Marcos la Laguna in collaboration with the US producer Dj Mose.
Back in Italy he played during the famous Milanese festival "Piano City" in May 2017 in the Glance studio, with two replicas.
Still in May he is present on the stage of the Pistoia Tattoo Expo 2017.
In June 2017 he performed in the Foyer of the Arcimboldi Theater on the occasion of the exhibition "I magnifici 7" curated by Enzo Gentile.
Takes part in the collection "Neo Composer Piano &" produced by Cacciapaglia and distributed by Believe digital with "Momentum", composition for two Handpan.
The record immediately enters the top of the Classic iTunes ranking.
It is also present with "Intermezzo" in Volume II released in March 2019.
Also in June we find him on the stage of the Handpan Festival of France, the largest gathering in the world of this instrument, which is held every year near Montpellier.
The "Handpan Festival 2017" compilation is created with the music of the participating artists.
In July he was invited to the Handpan-House Germany near Frankfurt for a concert.
In addition to the activities of Concerts and Festivals he plays for Private Events, Ceremonies, House Concerts, and accompanies DJ sets with the Handpan and percussion.
He has been invited to many events in castles and historic villas such as the Vittoriale degli Italiani on Lake Garda and the Castello di Vincigliata on the Florentine hills.
He also performs in Spa and during Yoga, dance, meditation, massage, ritual and holistic disciplines in general.
He collaborates with Asmana, the largest wellness center in Italy, where he relaxes customers in the Temple and with AlpenPalace, resort and Spa in Sudtirol, winner of numerous world awards as the best in the Wellness sector.
He collaborated with Jacopo Jogendra Ceccarelli, inventor of the Anukalana Yoga method and his school "Samadhi: Yoga in Florence".
Together with Giulia Lucarelli he led the "Yoga in Musica" project, a sensory and Yoga journey accompanied by a sound massage. The experience was proposed in festivals and Yoga centers and was also presented to children.
With Fabiana Finizio he conducts workshops and performances by Natana Yoga or Yoga Dance.
He performed in Tuscany in 2016 and 2018 at the Bhakti Festival at Villa Vrindavana and during the national meeting of Siaf Italia, the professional association of holistic operators at the Fontallorso Holistic-Congress Center.
He has set to music various meetings of Diego Manzi, philosopher, writer, researcher and professor of Sanskrit, philosophies, religions and mythologies of India.
Davide regularly conducts sessions of Baths of Sounds and Concerts-Meditation with his Handpan, Drums and other harmonic instruments throughout Italy and abroad and collaborates with the Music Therapy Studio "Nel Suono" of Trento, Music Therapy Studio of Bolzano and Centro Studi Bio-Natural Disciplines "Na.Me" of Florence.
He loves playing for the elderly, children and especially those with serious difficulties.
He is often invited to special schools and centers. On several occasions he is a guest musician at the "Meyer" Pediatric Hospital of Florence, a world avant-garde structure also for alternative treatments, art therapy and music therapy.
He has played on several occasions as an accompaniment to death by attending funerals: as in November 2017 in the Osterburken cemetery-forest in Germany where gravestones are replaced under trees.
He participate with his composition "Cypress" in the "Inward Journey" compilation produced by Healing Handpan Alliance in December 2017 with a Crowfunding that exceeded expectations and allowed to finance Vitamin Angels, an NGO active against the malnutrition of children.
It is also present in the second 2019 compilation entitled "Passages".
He performs with his performance at the Flash-Mob against violence against women in Florence in July 2016.
His compositions (often created specifically for the occasion) are used for short films, video installations and theatrical performances. His music was selected as part of the soundtrack of "Zitta - il Film".
He played for various book presentations, photographic and pictorial exhibitions. In December 2017 he accompanied Folco Terzani to the presentation of his book "Il cane, il lupo e Dio" hosted at the Waldorf School in Florence.
The months between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 see Davide Friello engaged in the composition of a new record, for the first time writing music for strings as an accompaniment to his Handpan.
For inspiration he chooses Lake Atitlan with three volcanoes in Central America, then the maritime pine forests of the southern coasts of Tuscany and to complete the ideas for the album he is a guest at the Handpan House in Milan.
In March 2018, his new "Immersion" album was released, produced together with Ema Edition and distributed worldwide by Believe Digital
Also in March he participates in the "Quarto Tempo Celebration Tour" by Maestro Cacciapaglia playing Opening Concerts in various important Italian Theaters, including the Auditorium la Verdi in Milan, Parco della Musica in Rome, Teatro Verdi in Florence, Teatro Duse in Bologna, the Camploy of Verona and the Crystal of Bolzano to date.
He presents the new album, in a Concert in duo with the Master cellist Enrico Guerzoni, at the Handpan House in Milan, the first "home / club" to be born and a reference point for the World of Handpan.
Continue the presentations with a formula of Intimate Concerts, House Concerts and private events on various occasions throughout Italy.
In May he plays in a HandPan solo concert at the Cine-Teatro Alfieri in Florence as a guest of the "Winter is not coming" convention promoted by others by WWF, GreenPeace and the University of Florence.
In June we find him in Asia, Singapore and Malaysia, for a series of Workshops and Concerts in various cultural centers.
In July he is performing at the Cine-Teatro Buonarroti in Civitavecchia with his music in the "Chakra" show by Elisa Tahira with the participation of various dancers from the region.
In August, together with the Groove family, he performs with Handpan and Percussion to the closing act of the Heart Culture Festival in Austria.
In September he is among the main artists of the HangOut UK 2018 Festival in England, the first Handpan meeting born in the world.
In October he is invited to hold seminars and perform in Concert in Hawaii during the first edition of the HangLoose Gathering on the island of Maui.
Returning to Europe, he began a prolific tour of many holistic centers and music therapy studios in northern Italy and Switzerland, where he offered workshops to approach the Handpan, Sound Meditations and Concerts.
He perform during the Christmas Markets in Bolzano and Merano and at Casa Santel in Fai della Paganella in a concert in a chalet immersed in the woods in the Dolomites Park where guests arrive on foot along the mountain paths.
In January he holds a concert at the Visionary Art Academy in Vienna, Austria.
In February he is invited to conduct a Handpan Masterclass day in Belgium at the Handpan Academy in Antwerp and a concert at the National Multiple Sclerosis Institute near Brussels.
He is then a guest in Switzerland at the Living Room sESSion with a Sold-Out concert in the famous crafted Handpan production company, Echo Sound Sculpture.
He plays at the International Academy of Fine Arts "TIAC" in Florence with a show of Handpan and Percussion and accompanied by video projections by the Chinese artist Hao Jiewei.
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He was the founder of the "Artistika San Gimignano Association" with whom he organized the "Festival Artistika" and the "World Music Festival" in Tuscany, which were held, with public success, in the summers of 2015 and 2016 in the charming medieval village of San Gimignano, Unesco heritage.
He had a building experience of Handpan in the laboratory of Meraki Instruments, one of the best artisan in the sector in the world.
In addition to the existing Concerts activity, it also offers workshops for the Handpan and Masterclass.