Ruben Mattia Santorsa (1992) is an Italian classical and electric guitarist.

 

Contemporary music is currently at the heart of his work and his artistic manifesto. He firmly believes that through it we can convey a message of openness, acceptance and social, political and cultural renewal, much needed in today’s society.

He premiered pieces of composers such as Luca Francesconi, Rebecca Saunders, Helmut Oehring and Peter Eötvös.

 

Crucial for his musical growth was meeting and working with composers like Helmut Lachenmann, Giulia Lorusso, Clara Iannotta, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino, Giacomo Manzoni e Sylvano Bussotti.

​

In addition to his career as a soloist, he is also continuing his research on contemporary music in chamber music, performing regularly with ensembles and orchestras such as Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,  Helsinki Philharmonic, SWR Stuttgart Orchestra, DSO Berlin, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Tonhalle Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Karajan Academy, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Mosaik Ensemble, Ensemble Contrechamps, MDI Ensemble, NEC Ensemble and Sonemus Ensemble, with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Enno Poppe, Matthias Pintscher, Peter Eötvös, Marin Alsop in the KKL Lucerne,  Elbphilharmonie of Hamburg, Philharmonie Berlin and Victoria Hall Genève.

 

He has given concerts among others in the US, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Hungary, Germany, Colombia, Slovenia, Portugal Bosnia and Herzegovina in cities and venues such as New York, (Mise-en place), Vienna (Istituto Italiano di Cultura), Budapest, Paris (Fondation des États-Unis), Munich (Münchener Biennale), Bogotà (Universidad de los Andes), Bern, Zürich (Literaturhaus), Geneva, Darmstadt, Sarajevo (Sonemus Fest), Milan (Auditorium  Martinitt e Stelline), Venice, Noto (Sala degli Specchi), Ljubljana. He played as a soloist with the Metropolitana Orchestra, Orchestra Accademia alla Scala and Orchestra of the Conservatory of Bologna.

​

He gave a lecture about the Contemporary guitar in Paris (Conservatoire Supérieur de musique et danse), Boston (New England Conservatory), Chicago (Northwestern University), Lisbon (Escola Superior de Música) and Sevilla (Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo)

​

He graduated with the Master Specialized in Soloist (Solistendiplom) with a specialization in contemporary music and the Master of Performance at the Hochschule of Bern with the teacher Elena Càsoli. He graduated at the conservatory of Bologna with Walter Zanetti at the conservatory of Bologna. and he studied composition with Paolo Aralla.

 

He won the scholarship Swiss Government Excellence for the years 2013-2015, which was conferred to the best students who have been admitted to a Swiss university. 

 

He attended the Chigiana Summer Academy 2015 with Oscar Ghiglia (with Diploma di Merito), the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in 2014 with Tom Pauwels and in 2016 with Yaron Deutsch, the Akademie für Zeitgenössische Musik in Luzern 2015 with Mats Scheidegger. He participated in several masterclasses with Alberto Ponce, Frank Bungarten, Roberto Masala, Michael Lewin, Adriano Del Sal.

 

He participated in several competitions where he won the following prizes:

 

International prizes
– First prize at “A. Salieri” cat. G, 2013
– Second prize at “Concorso Internazionale città di Asti”, 2013

 

National prizes
– First prize at “G. Rospigliosi” cat. D, 2013
– First prize at “I. Poggioli” Torre Annunziata (NA), 2000
– Absolute First prize at the Rassegna Spoltore Musica 1999 e 2000
– Third prize at “G. Rospigliosi” cat. D, 2011

 

He won several scholarships:

- Fritz Gerber Stiftung (2016/2017)

- Fondation Denereaz ( 2016, 2018, 2019)

- Lyra Stiftung (2015)

- Rita Zimmermann Stiftung (2015)
– Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (2013-2015)
– Fondazione Zucchelli (2013)
– Terenzio Zardini (2011)
– Accademia filarmonica di Verona (2011)