Giovanni Sollima is and internationally renowned cellist and the most performed Italian composer in the world. He has worked with artists such as Riccardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma, Ivan Fischer, Viktoria Mullova, Ruggero Raimondi, Mario Brunello, Kathryn Stott, Giuseppe Andaloro, Toni Florio, Yuri Bashmet, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Patti Smith, Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu and Antonio Albanese; and with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico, Cappella Neapolitana, Accademia Bizantina, Holland Baroque Society and Budapest Festival Orchestra.
In the fields of cinema, theatre, television, and dance, he has written and interpreted music for Peter Greenaway, John Turturro, Bob Wilson, Carlos Saura, Marco Tullio Giordana, Peter Stein, Lasse Gjertsen, Anatolij Vasiliev, Karole Armitage and Carolyn Carlson.
He has performed in some of the most important venues of the world: Alice Tully Hall, Knitting Factory, Carnegie Hall (New York); Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall (London); Salle Gaveau (Paris); Teatro alla Scala (Milan); Opera House (Sidney); and Suntory Hall (Tokyo).
Since 2010 Sollima has taught at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecila, where he has been awarded the title of Academic. In 2012, with Enrico Melozzi, he founded “100 Cellos”.
In 2015 he created the sound logo of the Milan Expo and inaugurated the new museum space of the Pietà Rondanini by Michelangelo. As a composer, he explores different genres, using old, oriental, electric instruments, and instruments of his own creation; he has played in the Sahara Desert, underwater, and a cello made of ice.
His recording activity began in 1998 with “Aquilarco”, a CD produced by Philip Glass for Point Music; this was followed by twelve other releases published by Sony, Egea and Decca. He has rediscovered the works of Giovanni Battista Costanzi, an 19th-century composer and recorded his Sonatas and Sinfonias for cello and basso continuo, published by Glossa.
In October 2018 he received the Anner-Bijlsma Award at the Cello Biennale in Amsterdam. 2010 saw the debut of his most recent works, “Il Libro della Giungla” and “Acqua Profonda”.
In 2021 the documentary “N-Ice Cello” described the fascinating voyage of the ice cello built by Tim Linhart.
Giovanni Sollima plays an instrument made by Francesco Ruggieri in Cremona in 1679.