Born in Florence in 1972, Amerigo Bernardi studied at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and was awarded a first-class honours diploma from “Conservatorio L. Cherubini”. At a very young age he was the winner of various national contests and in 1991 he won the selection for principal double bass in the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana.
He is currently Solo Bass in the ORT (Orchestra Regionale Toscana).
From 2000 to 2002 he took part in various tours of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, conducted by Z. Metha, as principal double bass. From 2002 to 2010 he played with Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini (later renamed Symphonica Tscanini) after being personally chosen by conductor L. Maazel as principal double bass. With this orchestra he toured all continents and played in some of the most prestigious locations in the world such as Zurich’s Tonhalle, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, Beijing Arts Centre, etc. During the 2007 American tour he played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with greatest conductors and soloists such as L. Maazel, Y. Temirkanov, G. Pretre, Z. Mehta, E. Inbal, M. Rostropovich,R.F. de Burgos,V. Gergiev, I. Perlmann, M. Vengerov, J. Fisher, etc.
Since 2002 he has played as guest principal double bass with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by C. Abbado and D. Harding. With this orchestra he also recorded for DECCA and Deutsche Grammophon. Since 2003 he has been periodically invited by C. Abbado to play with Lucerne Festival Orchestra which is composed of Mahler Chamber Orchestra and members of Berliner Philarmoniker, Hagen Quartet, Alban Berg Quartet, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and many principal parts of prestigious European and American orchestras. He made various recordings and DVDs with Lucerne Festival Orchestra.
From 2010 to 2012 he has played as guest principal double-bassist with Orchestre National de Lyon withwhich he has toured and made various recordings among which are Debussy’s collected works. Since 2004 he has been the double-bassist of Solisti di Pavia, a prestigious chamber ensemble conducted by the great cellist E. Dindo. With this ensemble he toured Europe and the world (St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, etc.) and recorded Vivaldi’s Cello Concertos and all of C. Ph. E. Bach’s Concertos exclusively for DECCA.
He cooperates with the “Human Rights Orchestra”, founded and guided by the famous French hornist Alessio Allegrini, which raises funds for the defense of human rights all over the world. Here are just a few names of famous artists who have contributed to this project: D. Barenboim, C. Abbado, M.J. Pires, H. Grimaud and some very influential politicians.
He’s foundig member and principal bass of Leonore Orchestra, based in Pistoia. Leonore is a very special musical project, inviting best musician from all Europe to join the orchestra. Many section leaders of varius orchestras, string quartets, soloists are involved in this project.
Since 2002 he has been a member of the BASS GANG. One of the world’s most representative double bass ensemble, the BASS GANG not only plays the most varied music genres such as Rock, Classical, Blues, Jazz, Pop, Latin, etc., but is also engaged in world tours that often take its members to Japan (Suntory Hall Tokyo, Kitara Hall Sapporo, Izumi Hall Osaka, Minatomirai Hall Yokohama, etc.), Korea (Seoul Arts Center, Hayei Arts Center), Germany (Berliner Philarmoniker’s Kammer Saal). As a soloist, the BASS GANG was often accompanied by famous orchestras for special projects such as the Verdi-Rossini-Neapolitan Melodies Project with Berliner Symphoniker and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2007 he has been the double bass teacher at the Istituto Musicale “Peri-Merulo” in Reggio Emilia, Italy. He really enjoys tutoring young orchestra musicians. He is very often involved in summer classes and in individual instrumental courses as a cello and double bass tutor: Cantiere Internazionale di Montepulciano, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, Orchestra Giovanile di Domodossola, Orchestra da Camera di Domodossola. Since 2014 he cooperates with Branimir Slokar Academy in Lubljiana, as tutor of the bass section of the Academy Young Orchestra.