Biography

Giampaolo Pretto is principal flute at RAI Orchestra since 1986, first in the Milan one, then in the National Symphony established in Turin. Born in Verona, he began at sixteen a very intensive concert activity that brought him to the most important italian and international venues as a soloist, chamber musician, first flute and conductor over almost forty years. In each of these professional roles he always choose to face the largest repertoire, ranging from the Baroque to the avant-gardes. After finishing his italian studies with the highest marks, he obtained the Premier Prix de Virtuosité in Paris under Patrick Gallois.

He has recorded dozens of CDs, including the complete Mozart Concertos with the European Union Chamber Orchestra and the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim; the complete Brandenburg concertos; the Petrassi Concerto with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra; the "Ruah" concerto (dedicated to him) by I. Fedele with the RAI, J. Rodrigo's Concierto Pastoral with the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra. He held masterclasses in flute and chamber music for leading Italian institutions such as the MusicaRivaFestival, the Perosi Academy, the Chigiana Academy and the Fiesole School of Music, but also in France, Slovenia, Korea. From 2000 to 2018 he was teacher of the Italian Youth Orchestra, with the position of main coach conductor from 2012 .

He was founder and member of Quintetto Bibiena, a classic wind quintet awarded at the ARD Münich competition in 1993, which for over twenty years has been regular guest of all the main Seasons in Italy and abroad. He also graduated in composition at the Conservatory of Turin and studied conducting with Piero Bellugi.

He obtained many prizes and awards, including the "Barison" in 1987, the "Siebaneck-Abbiati" in 2003 (with the Quintetto Bibiena), the "G.F. Pressenda »in 2008. He has been protagonist of two monographic portraits on Sky Classica for the series "I notevoli (the remarkables) and " Contrappunti". Also active as a composer, in recent years he often performed his music, like "Nine rooms", (concerto for flute, cello and strings), "A flat" (quartet), commissioned by Ex Novo Ensemble of Venice, the clarinet concerto "Per quelli che volano" (For those who fly), commissioned by Haydn Orchester in Bolzano, “ Tre d'amore” for chamber orchestra, written for the Unimi of Milan.

Devoted to teaching, in 2013 he published a book on flute technique, Dentro il Suono (Into the sound), which immediately met the highest interest even at an international level, from which derived an eponymous didactic system, under the acronym Dils, based on an innovative team work, for which GP coordinates an ever-increasing number of teachers certified by him. For the Debussian centenary of 2018 he recorded a double CD for Warner Classics, "Ouïr la lumière", containing the entire original work for flute by Claude Debussy: the CD contains some transcriptions from works by the French author made by GP, one of which, the Wind Quintet version of the Second Sonata, was published by Durand.