About Damiano
Damiano Pascarelli is a versatile and multi-talented composer, arranger and conductor who won the prestigious Rogier van Otterloo Award in 2019. He has written arrangements for concerts and recording projects featuring artists such as Lalah Hathaway, Kurt Elling, Jacob Collier, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Benson, Chaka Khan, Lizz Wright, Take 6 and many others.
Pascarelli regularly collaborates with the Dutch Metropole Orkest, the only full time symphonic Pop/Jazz orchestra in the world today. He was one of the orchestrators involved in the critically acclaimed Jacob Collier album "Djesse Vol. 1" (Decca) recorded with the Metropole Orkest led by Jules Buckley. He works also with many other world-class orchestras such as the WDR Big Band Cologne, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the Heritage Orchestra, the SWR Big Band Stuttgart and Amsterdam Sinfonietta among many others.
Pascarelli has been praised for the lyricism of his writing and his “contemporary approach to composing and arranging within an idiom rich of tradition” (jury report Rogier van Otterloo Award 2019). His sensitivity and open minded attitude has given him control over a wide range of contemporary musical styles. His work has been performed at iconic stages and festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and Bimhuis.
Between 2016 and 2020 Pascarelli was one of the arrangers involved in the Quincy Jones celebration concerts that were performed at some of the most prestigious European music festivals (BBC Proms 2016, Jazz Open Stuttgart 2017, Umbria Jazz 2018 and more). These concerts featured - alongside Quincy Jones himself - the likes of George Benson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jacob Collier, Take 6 and Patti Austin.
Born in 1987 in Montecchio Emilia, Italy, Pascarelli moved in 2012 to Amsterdam, the Netherlands to pursue his music studies. There he obtained a bachelor and master degree in jazz composition and arranging at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. During his graduate studies he spent one semester in Los Angeles studying at the Thornton School of Music (University of Southern California) under Vince Mendoza and Bob Mintzer. Their music and approach became a strong influence in his writing for orchestra and big band. Pascarelli currently resides in Amsterdam.