THEATER OF THE BARACCANO

Education and Training

Originally from Basilicata, Giambattista Giocoli began his musical career as a clarinettist, studying clarinet in his hometown before graduating from the Bologna Conservatory under Maestro Enrico Quarenghi.

He has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (A. Copland's Clarinet Concerto, 1998).

He studied with Gaspare Tirincanti, specialising in contemporary repertoire for solo clarinet. His eclectic musical background enabled him to perform on all instruments of the clarinet family.

He furthered his studies at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Antony Pay and at the AFOS Academy of Emilia-Romagna with Alessandro Carbonare.
 

Recordings

He has made recordings for regional radio stations in Emilia-Romagna and Basilicata, for RAI Radio 3, RAISAT, the CLASSICA television channel and Japan's Fuji Television.

His CD recordings include an album devoted to Giacinto Scelsi, several works from the twentieth-century repertoire, world premieres of contemporary compositions and a recording for Deutsche Grammophon with Plácido Domingo.
 

Theatres and Festivals

As a clarinettist, he has collaborated with several orchestras in their opera and symphonic seasons, including the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, with which he worked regularly for approximately ten years.

He has collaborated with the contemporary music ensemble FontanaMIX, conducting contemporary music workshops at the DAMS Department of the University of Bologna, and with the Milan-based ensemble Sentieri Selvaggi, performing in Europe (Serbia, 2005) and Asia (Uzbekistan, 2007).

Among the most prestigious international festivals in which he has participated are Bologna Festival, Nuove Consonanze in Rome, Angelica Festival, Milano Musica and the Mozart Festival in Rovereto.

His international tours also include performances in Japan in 2002 and 2006 with the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
 

Artistic Direction

Since its foundation in 2005, he has been the Artistic Director of ATTI SONORI, a music theatre festival originally held in Bologna and in several theatres throughout the province. Dedicated to research and the creation of new music theatre productions, the festival has been based at the Teatro del Baraccano in Bologna since 2010.

In 2025, he founded the Orsoleo Spring Festival, serving as its Artistic Director. The festival promotes the cultural heritage of Basilicata through music, theatre, dance and artistic residencies, and reached its second edition in 2026.
 

Orchestral Conducting

In 2013, he made his debut as a conductor with a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music, receiving critical and public acclaim. In the same year, he founded the Orchestra del Baraccano.

The orchestra's mission is to perform works originally composed for large symphonic ensembles in chamber orchestra formations, creating new arrangements in which each instrumental part is performed by a single musician.

In 2014, he conducted Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat and Stephen Sondheim's acclaimed and demanding musical Sweeney Todd. In 2015, he toured with L'Histoire du Soldat and the programmes All'Opera!, featuring symphonies, intermezzi and overtures from Italian opera, and 4th Gustav Mahler, an arrangement of Mahler's Fourth Symphony for chamber orchestra.

Since 2015, he has collaborated as a guest conductor with the Orchestra della Fondazione Toscanini in Parma and, since 2017, with the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini in Pesaro. In 2018, he also began collaborating with the Fondazione Orchestra Lucana and the Virtuosi dell'Opera Italiana.

Productions he has conceived and conducted include:

• 2017: Popular Songs, featuring soloist Cristina Zavalloni; a new production of Histoire du Soldat with actor Ivano Marescotti as narrator; and Il Barbiere a Fumetti, an adaptation of The Barber of Seville combining music, animation and manga illustrations by Japanese artist Tsukishiro Yuko, created as an international co-production with Japan.

• 2020: Kafka, Lettere a Milena, a theatrical concert for orchestra and two narrators.

• 2021: He conceived the RESPIGHI Project, the first festival entirely dedicated to the Bolognese composer Ottorino Respighi. As part of the project, he created the theatrical concert Allargo già le braccia and the music and dance production R.A.D. Respighi Ancient Dances, co-produced with the DNA dance company. He also recorded the album Respighi Suite, Antiche arie e danze per liuto, featuring Respighi's works arranged for chamber ensemble.

• 2022: He conceived Aida, la musica danza nella sabbia, a chamber ensemble adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, featuring narration and lighting design.

• 2022–2024: With the Orchestra del Baraccano, he toured Poland and the Czech Republic in 2022, Hungary in 2023 and Croatia in 2024.

• 2025: He conceived and conducted Pulcinella, all'improvviso!, an Orchestra del Baraccano production recognised as a Special Project by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The production was presented as part of the Respighi Festival in Bologna and toured Basilicata and Campania.

• 2026: He continues his conducting career with new productions, including Danze Ritrovate and Dalla Sensitiva alla Création du monde.