Mario Sollazzo was born in Naples. He is a pianist, harpsichordist, conductor graduated in piano and chamber music at the “S. Cecilia” Conservatory in Rome and at Detmold’s Musikhochschule in Germany and in composition at the “Carl Maria von Weber” Musikhochschule in Dresden. He graduated in philosophy at the Tor Vergata University in Rome. He alternates his activities as pianist and fortepianist with that of harpsichordist and conductor, relying on a vast repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music and a wide field of musical experiences. From 2002 to 2010 he founded and directed the group Marammè with which he developed a research work on traditional music of southern Italy. The group has released two CDs, held over a hundred concerts across Europe and won the Creole World Music Prize in Leipzig. From 2001 to 2006 he was a founding member, together with Stefano Zanobini, of the Congrega de’ Furiosi, an experimental group of ancient music on original instruments and baroque theater. From 2007 to 2009 he was the music director of the Gregor Seyffert Compagnie in Berlin at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau and he regularly collaborates with directors and choreographers. These and other very heterogeneous experiences merged in 2010 in the Ensemble Alraune with which he still carries out his main activity. www.mariosollazzo.com