Romano Viazzani was born in London of an Italian mother and a Welsh-born Italian father in 1966. He studied Piano under concert pianist Penny Hughes (formerly Scott) and accordion under Frank Lilley and Prof. Owen Murray. In 1981 he and a few musicians formed L'Orchestra Rara, a function band with an Italian flavour.

He taught himself to orchestrate and arrange music and in 1986 expanded L'Orchestra Rara from a five-piece to an eight-piece, taking on the job of leader/arranger. The band later changed its name to The High Society Dance Orchestra and expanded one more time to become a 9-piece ensemble with a more ambitious repertoire which grew to over 250 pieces, ranging from light classics, swing, Latin-American, ballroom, and musette to rock'n'roll, cult TV and movie themes and current chart hits, the gigs started coming in from all over England, Scotland and Wales and as far as the south of Italy. The ensemble finally disbanded in 2002, 21 years after it began.

During this time he was commissioned to write soundtracks for TV documentaries, including the Bafta-nominated Stranger at the Gate (BBC 2) in 1988. In January 2001 he was commissioned to arrange the Italian National Anthem Inno di Mameli for a special centenary concert of Verdi's Messa di Requiem performed by the Vivaldi Concertante at St. Peter's Italian Church, London. His latest large work, Valceno - Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra, was premiered at the London Accordion Festival with himself on accordion and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Nick Davies in December 2001. The work was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His latest compositions have been soundtracks for 2 Discovery Channel documentaries Where Miracles Happen.

In December 2001, in order to promote the accordion and its music, he and his wife organised the London Accordion Festival at the Wembley Complex, an event which attracted nearly 1000 people over two days and featured over 200 artists from all over the world, including solo accordionists, duos, accordion orchestras, dance bands and symphony orchestras. Highlights of the event were broadcast in a prime time slot on BBC Radio 3. As well as all-day continuous concerts the event featured two gala concerts, master classes, workshops, after-hours jazz, accordion industry trade stands, competitions for performers and composers alike.

In September 2002 he featured on “Exile” - the most recent album by bebop saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble. He subsequently joined the band and enjoyed reaching number one with them in the Virgin Jazz Charts in early 2003. The band’s blend of Jazz with Middle Eastern, North African, East European and Tango music led them to be nominated in the best band of 2003 category, at the BBC Jazz Awards but went on to win the 2003 – Best Album of the Year. After touring the UK promoting the album in the spring and summer of 2003 the band embarked on a European tour in the autumn, which brought huge success and was widely acclaimed in the European press, radio and TV. Their latest album Musik- Rearranging the 20th Century was released in the autumn of 2004 and is receiving rave reviews. The band recently supported Joe Zawinul at a packed Barbican Hall and drew a large audience at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

As well as this Viazzani still finds time to do solo concerts all over th UK, France and Italy and is currently recording a solo album. He is the UK demonstrator for the Roland V-Accordion, the world’s first modelling digital accordion.

Over the past two years he has also played in the orchestra pit for Fiddler on the Roof at the Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth; the Questor’s Theatre, Ealing; and the Richmond Theatre: and for Carl Davis’ The Beggar’s Opera at the Theatre Royal, Northampton. He made his west end debut in February 2007 at the Jermyn Street Theatre in Pennies From Heaven with Steve Ross and Gregory Moore.

He plays a Beltrami 5/6 -voice accordion from Stradella, Italy. It has a 45 key piano keyboard with straight-tuned reeds in the usual arrangement but with and added set of 32’ reeds giving the instrument a similar range to a button accordion. The 4 chord rows of the 120 basses convert to 4-row c-system free-bass system, which has a 58-note range and employs 3 sets of reeds. He is also the UK demonstrator for the Roland V-Accordion the world’s first modelling digital Accordion.

Discography

1988 Dancing in the Moonlight – L’Orchestra Rara
1995 L’Orchestra Rara – I primi 15 Anni
1999 Steps in Time – The High Society Dance Orchestra
2003 Exile- Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble
2004 Musik / Rearranging the 20th Century - Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble
2005 50 Minutes Later – Phil Manzanera
2007 Bach, Bobic, Piazzolla, Vivaldi, Paganini, Angelis.- Romano Viazzani Solo Album
2007 Encore – Romano Viazzani –Solo Album
2007 Viazzani Takes Stok – Romano Viazzani Solo Album tribute to Gigi Stok


Contact Details:

Tel. +44 (0)20 8423 4417
Web. www.romanoviazzani.com
Email: romanoviazzani@btconnect.com