Faculty & Staff Directory

Simone Mancuso

Simone Mancuso was born and raised in Italy.

In 2000, Mancuso obtained the Conservatory Diploma in Percussion from the Conservatorio A. Scontrino in Trapani, studing with Professor Fulvia Ricevuto. He then moved to Lugano, Switzerland, where he specialized in contemporary music as a solo percussionist with Professor Mircea Ardeleanu. While there he received the Solisten Diplom from the University School of Music of Lugano, Switzerland. This award is only given four times per year, and Mancuso was the first percussionist ever to receive this recognition. During his time in Switzerland, he founded the Lugano Percussion Group, which currently performs in Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Romania, and Switzerland.

He has been internationally recognized for his interpretations of contemporary classical pieces with prizes including the Kranichstein-Stipendienpreise at the International Ferienkurse fuer Neue Musik 2002 (Darmstadt, Germany), and the Stockhausen Preise in 2005 (Cologne, Germany), awarded to Mancuso directly by Karlheinz Stockhausen.

He has collaborated with composers such as: Salvatore Sciarrino, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Klaus Huber, Edoardo Soto-Milan, Rudolf Kelterborn and Adriana Hölsky. Mancuso has performed with artists such as: Martha Argerich, Alexander Rabinovtch-Barakovsky, Johannes Kalitzke, Gabriele Baldocci and Michele Marelli among others.

Since 2004, Mancuso has performed annually at the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano Switzerland. During his collaborations, he has recorded a CD with the members of the MAP which is currently being released under the EMI Classics label. He has also performed in a variety of other chamber settings personally with Mrs. Argerich.

In 2007 he was selected by Karlheinz Stockhausen as a recommended performer of his works.

Mancuso performs regularly in solo, duo and ensemble concerts over the world. He has performed as soloist with the Basel Sinfonietta, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, SONUS Ensemble, and with the Orchestra da Camera Ungherese and in a wide array of international venues and prestigious events, such as: the Kennedy Center and Blues Alley (Washington D.C.), Strathmore Hall (Bethesda, MD), University of Zurich, University of Lausanne, Martha Argerich Project and ISCM World New Music Days (Switzerland), Internationale Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik Darmstadt (Germany), Teatro Nacional of Brasilia, University of Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Colegiul National De Arta Ion Vidu (Timisoara, Romania), RAI Radio Tre, Teatro Colosseo (Italy), Tchaicovsky Conservatory (Moscow).

He is a founding member of the of the jazz/classical cross-over ensemble the Mancuso-Suzda Project based in Washington, D.C.

He has recorded CDs for the record labels: EMI Classics, Col Legno and Suisse Grammont Portrait and is currently receiving high praise for his newest CD with the Mancuso-Suzda Project entitled Lines. Presently, he is recording a CD of solo works by Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Cage, and Xenakis to be released in 2009.