The Salzburg-based Italian cellist Giovanni Gnocchi made his debut as a soloist at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in a concert together with Yo-Yo Ma. He has performed as a soloist under the baton of some of the most prestigious conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Christopher Hogwood, Carlo Rizzi, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Alexander Lonquich, Alexander Shelley, Daniel Cohen, Michele Spotti, Daniele Agiman, Enrico Bronzi, Daniele Giorgi and Aram Khacheh, at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart-Woche in Salzburg, Beethoven-Fest Bonn, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Smetana Hall in Prague, Kurhaus Wiesbaden, KKL Luzern, Essen Philharmonie, Rosengarten Mannheim and many more.
Over the years, he has performed as a soloist with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana of Florence, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and OGI – Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, both as a soloist and conductor. He also served as Soloist in Residence for three years with the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini in Pesaro.
He recently performed Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante in Mexico with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and José Luis Castillo, Brahms’ Double Concerto with Anna Tifu, the Filarmonica Toscanini and Joel Sandelson, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Lugano with Marco Rizzi and Adrian Oetiker, the Michael and Franz Joseph Haydn Concertos in Italy and Salzburg with the Philharmonie Salzburg and Elisabeth Fuchs, as well as both Nino Rota Concertos and works by Mieczyslaw Weinberg in their Italian premieres.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, he has performed with Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky, and has collaborated with Leonidas Kavakos, Mario Brunello, members of the Hagen Quartet, as well as Andrea Lucchesini, Alessandro Stella, Alexander Lonquich, Alasdair Beatson, Ilya Gringolts, Alena Baeva, Roman Simovic, Pekka Kuusisto, Liza Ferschtman, Jennifer Stumm, Yura Lee, Olli Mustonen, Vadym Kholodenko and Alessandro Carbonare, at the Lucerne Festival, Ark-Nova Concert Hall in Japan, Casals Festival in Prades, Festival Radio France in Montpellier, Verbier Festival, Delft Music Festival in the Netherlands, Järna Music Festival in Sweden, Ilumina Festival in Brazil, KotorArt Festival in Montenegro, Musikdorf Ernen Festival in Switzerland, and Ljubljana Cello Fest in Slovenia.
He has given chamber concerts at the Esplanade in Singapore and a solo recital at Hong Kong City Hall for the Hong Kong International Cello Association.
His solo and chamber music performances have been broadcast by RAI-Radio3, ORF-1 Austria, RTVS – Rádio Slovensko, Bayerische Rundfunk 4 Klassik and NPO Radio 4 in the Netherlands. He has recorded solo and chamber music projects for Deutsche Grammophon, Stradivarius and the University of Mozarteum.
Winner of the 1st Prize at the “F. J. Haydn” Competition in Vienna and a recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in London (both with the David Trio), he was also a laureate of the Prague Spring Cello Competition and the Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Zagreb, and, in duo with Mariangela Vacatello, received the Parkhouse Award in London at Wigmore Hall.
Giovanni served as Solo Cellist of Camerata Salzburg for eight years. He has also held guest principal positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London under Daniele Gatti and the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado, and has collaborated as a guest principal cellist with the Münchner Philharmoniker, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He was also Co-Principal Cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev.
Since 2008, he has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, playing with Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink and Andris Nelsons.
In 2013, he was appointed University Professor of Violoncello at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.