Andrea Balocco

Italian trombonist Andrea Balocco was appointed principal trombone in 2023.

“ The opportunity to come to Cape Town from Durban where I had been a member of the KZNPO for nine years came completely unexpectedly,” he says, “as sometimes the best things in life. Not only am I able to play in the best and most active orchestra in the country and even the continent, surrounded by great musicians, colleagues and friends, but I am also living in a beautiful, cosmopolitan and welcoming city. I can breathe art and culture unlike anywhere else in this country. Experiencing full house concerts both for symphony seasons and ballet or opera is an empowering feeling I had almost forgotten. There is attentiveness towards the musicians and it is uplifting from both an artistic and human point of view.”

He has been giving back –he teaches at the CP Music Academy where he is helping to standardize the brass curriculum.

Andrea was born in Turin. He started playing euphonium at the age of six in the wind band of his hometown, San Giusto, near Turin.

At the age of 12 he joined the trombone class of the Conservatoire in Aosta and nurtured his passion throughout hight school, In 2005, he embarked on a Bachelor’s degree of Music at the University in Aosta with Maestro Stefano Viola and Maestro Vincent LePape. After graduation in 2010, he earned his Master’s degree two years later. While studying, he was able to interact with amazing musicians such as Christian Lindberg, Joseph Alessi (principal trombone of NY Philharmonic), Stefan Schulz (bass trombone of Berliner Philarmoniker), Ian Bousfield (former principal trombone at LSO), Jörgen van Rijen (principal trombone of Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) and Andrea Bandini (former principal trombone of the Orchetsre de la Suisse Romande).

In 2011 he joined the trombone class of Maestro Andrea Bandini at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva where he graduated in 2013, with the first of two masters of music under his belt.

He started his professional career at the age of 16 in December 2007 as ad hoc trombone with the Regional Orchestra in Val d’Aosta and continued freelancing with various orchestras such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in 2012 and Tiroler Festspiele Orchestra in 2013.

In 2012 he played in the ensemble of trombones which represented Italy at the International Trombone Festival in Paris. The same year he was invited to audition for the Juilliard School of Music in New York and although successful chose not to enrol.

In 2014, he was appointed principal trombone of the KZNPO and performed as soloist with the orchestra in the Grondhal Concerto in 2017. In 2018, he was lower brass coach for the Miagi Orchestra on its European Tour, dedicated to Mandela. From 2014 until 2022 he also performed as ad hoc principal trombone with JPO and in December 2022 was a member of the Mzanzi Orchestra performing the 9th Symphony by Beethoven under the direction of Marin Alsop.

In Jan 2023 he started performing as guest Principal trombone with the Cape Town Philharmonic and in December 2023 was appointed principal.

Outside the orchestra he is a member of Quattrombones, a newly formed trombone quartet based in Cape Town, and the brass quintet Coastal Brass.

Non musical interests include Astrophysics, reading, painting and playing strategy tabletop games. He joined the SA team at the Warhammer 40K World Team Championship in August 2023 held in Belgium.