Francesco Geminiani

Born in Verona (Italy) in 1990, at the age of 15 he began the study of music choosing the saxophone as his main instrument. Mr. Geminiani showed from the very start a deep dedication towards the musical studies but even more impressive was his talent and prodigious ability to master the instrument in a matter of months. This innate talent brought him to perform at 16 years old with the city’s representative winds orchestra “Arrigo Boito” giving performances throughout the North Italian regions and Germany. During the same year he was accepted in the first internationally recognized Jazz program of Italy at “Conservatory E.F. Dall’Abaco”; being also the youngest student (16) that studied in an Italian jazz department. Mr. Geminiani obtained his first Diploma in jazz music and saxophone in 2010 presenting his thesis on legendary tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon that received the highest possible score from the present commission. At the beginning of 2008 he founded the quintet “Funkeys”, based in Verona this ensemble of young talented musicians performed extensively all over Italy. Among the many highlights of its existence the “Funkeys” had a yearly residency in Verona’s K59, performing twice a week, and were also chosen by award winner and famous movie soundtrack group (Austin’s power and Starsky and Hutch) “James Taylor quartet” to perform the opening act of their live concert in front of a public of thousands. In 2009 Mr. Geminiani gained international recognition winning the prestigious Siena foundation scholarship, being selected as the recipient by a jury of top-level international jazz exponents such as Franco D’Andrea, Avishai Cohen, Lionel Lueke, George Garzone and Pietro Tonolo. After obtaining his diploma in Verona, in 2010 Mr. Geminiani moved to Switzerland completing his studies at the “H.E.M.U. (Haute Ecole de Musique) of Lausanne”, where he successfully earned a Bachelor degree in saxophone and jazz music in only two years with the highest note for his recital and thesis that researched into the long history of the “suite” form. During his stay in the Helvetic Land he established himself as one of the most in demand saxophone players, performing at events such as “Ascona jazz”, “Verbier Jazz Festival” for three consecutive years, AMR jazz festival in Geneva and the biggest music festival in the world: Montreux Jazz Festival. He was selected to take part in the “2011 DKSJ All Star Band of Switzerland”, performing in all the main Swiss’ jazz clubs (Bird’s Eye, Chorus, Musikantine, Mehrspur); this ensemble reunited the very best instrumentalist resident in the country, a repertoire was commissioned specifically for the occasion to Rudi Mahall and a “DKSJ live at MusiKantine” recording was released soon after the national tour. 2012 was signed but several great recognitions; Mr. Geminiani was the recipient of the F. Jost foundation award with the following motivation: “In merit of his outstanding work as a performer and the huge contribute he brought to the Swiss musical scene”. Consequently he won in the same year the national “Zorzella Award”; an international jazz soloist competition held in Italy at the “Camploy Theatre”. In the summer of 2012 he auditioned for the prestigious “New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music”, where he obtained a full merit scholarship that enable him to move to New York City to accomplish his jazz and classical studies and dive into the active musical scene that only this city has to offer. In 2014 he obtained his Bachelor in arts with honorable mention earning a final GPA of 3.80. Since his move to the US, Mr. Geminiani level of musicianship evolved excelling in the performing arts as well as in the demanding and sophisticated discipline of composition. Under the guide of Grammy Award winner Gil Goldstein in 2014 he formed the Playwood chamber ensemble, for which he composed and arranged the entire repertoire successfully creating a unique blend of classical music and jazz that stands out for its originality. Within the last two years Mr. Geminiani led the band internationally performing Italy and Switzerland. In 2015 he released the album “Colorsound”, this work has been entirely recorded and produced in New York City with some of the best up and coming young musicians: Rick Rosato and Bass and Mark Schilders on drums. The trio has been heard in the New York and European jazz clubs during the winter tour in the end of 2015. Mr. Geminiani besides is work as a leader stands as in demand tenor saxophonist of its generation. Constantly performing and recording internationally, he has been touring Italy, Germany, US, Holland, France, Switzerland and Slovenia; performed along side some of the most well known jazzmen such as Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Adam Birnbaum, Bill Stuart and Doug Weiss, and recorded several acclaimed albums in the last years. He has also be seen on stage in different NY’s clubs such as Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Cornelia Street Café, Rockwood, Shapeshifter lab, Smoke jazz club, Brooklyn raga massive, Arnold Hall, NuBlu, DROM; and Europe, Marian’s jazzroom, Montreux jazz Festival, Ascona jazz Festival, World Gymnaestrada festival, AMR Sud des Alpes, Bird’s Eye jazz club Basel, Cantina Bentivoglio.