mdi ensemble

Sonia Formenti   flute
Paolo Casiraghi   clarinet
Lorenzo Gentili-Tedeschi   violin
Paolo Fumagalli   viola
Giorgio Casati   cello
Luca Ieracitano   piano

Projects of mdi also include
Franziska Schoetensack   violin
Simone Beneventi   percussions

mdi ensemble was created in 2002 in Milano and was based on the idea of six young musicians sharing their common passion for  contemporary music, with the support of Musica d'Insieme Association.
From the very beginning, the ensemble has combined the studies of the more relevant scores by establishing  close collaborations with many key composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Sylvano Bussotti, Gerard Pesson, Stefano Gervasoni, Misato Mochizuki, Emanuele Casale... together with the works of young composers emerging into the international scene.
mdi ensemble usually works on chamber repertoire, taking advantage of similar feeling while looking for a common interpretation; at the same time, the ensemble collaborates with eminent conductors such as Yoichi Sugiyama, Robert HP Platz, Marino Formenti.
mdi is frequently invited to perform by many of the most important musical institutions, in Italy: Festival Milano Musica, MiTo-Settembre Musica, Biennale di Venezia, Teatro Bibiena in Mantova, PAC and Teatro Filodrammatici in Milano, Mittelfest, Lingotto Musica Torino, Japanese Institute of Roma, Festival Traiettorie in Parma, Amici della Musica di Palermo.
In 2010 mdi was the  “ensemble in residence” at the first edition of Koiné, the festival of contemporary music created and organized by the  Dal Verme Theatre in Milano under the artistic direction of the composer Ivan Fedele.  In the same theatre mdi performed Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in a stage version with costumes and scenes designed by Sylvano Bussotti in key collaboration with the Accademia della Scala.
Outside Italy, mdi ensemble has performed at the Tonhalle in Dusseldorf, Konzerthaus in Dortmund, Japanese Institute and Italian Institute in Köln, SWR in Stuttgard, ORF in Innsbruck, Teatro Forteza in Maiorca, LACMA in Los Angeles.  In January 2008, the ensemble made its debut in Tokyo together with Sylvano Bussotti, thanks to the collaboration and support of Cemat, playing in concerts scores of Italian composers.
Mdi concerts have been broadcasted by Rai RadioTre and Rai International, Limen and SWR.
The first cd, with the music of Stefano Gervasoni, was published by Aeon Paris and was awarded by Academy Charles Cros the prestigious recognition “Coup de coeur - musique contemporaine 2009”.  A monographic CD dedicated to Sylvano Bussotti was recorded in 2008 during the Japanese tournée and has been published by Stradivarius.  A new CD, where the ensemble plays music by Emanuele Casale, will soon be released by Ricordi Oggi.
Since 2008, the strings of mdi have been working on the “Repertorio Zero Project”, a project created by Yan Maresz, Nadir Vassena and Giovanni Verrando, where the ensemble performs only with electric instruments. Repertorio Zero presented concerts for Festival MiTo, Conservatory of Lugano, Tonhalle in Zurigo and Biennale di Venezia.