Romantic Italian Tenors

Gianluca Paganelli – Tenor | Contemporary Crossover

Italian tenor Gianluca Paganelli, an artist of international standing, is distinguished by the beauty and warmth of his timbre, his musical sensitivity and a spontaneous, natural interpretative style that combines vocal elegance with expressive immediacy. These qualities have earned him the epithet “golden voice” and define his artistic journey between the operatic tradition and contemporary crossover.

He began his vocal studies with his uncle, the baritone Ludivico Malavasi, continuing his training at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and further refining his artistry with Renata Scotto, Alfredo Kraus and Luciano Pavarotti.

Having performed leading roles in Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Bohème and Carmen, he combines the operatic tradition with contemporary crossover, singer-songwriter repertoire and cinematic sounds.

His discography includes Tango, Cecilia, Arie, Stabat Mater, Sono nato cantando and Acqua e Luce.

He has performed at international venues and festivals including Yamaha Hall in Tokyo, The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Sage Gateshead (now The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, in Gateshead) and Winslow Hall Opera in Buckinghamshire. In Rome, he has sung in Sala Petrassi at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, now named after Ennio Morricone. His Baltic tours have included appearances at Lielais dzintars (Great Amber) Concert Hall in Liepāja, Žvejų rūmai Cultural Centre in Klaipėda and Vanemuise Concert Hall in Tartu.

A defining step in his emergence in the United Kingdom was Tango (2011), an album bringing classical vocal artistry to the passion of tango and the crossover repertoire. Presented at the House of Commons in Westminster during Marriage Week UK, the British week celebrating marriage, the project received the support of Len Goodman, the celebrated Strictly Come Dancing judge, including television promotion on ITV.

UK tours with The Soldiers and, subsequently, as a guest of Hayley Westenra further established his profile, with duets including Vivo per lei and Time to Say Goodbye. Alongside concerts across Europe and in Japan, China, Russia and Canada, he has appeared on the BBC and ITV and attracted coverage from publications including The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, including its online edition.

Canada holds a significant place in his international career, with repeated visits including recitals at the Avalon Theatre at Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

With the Romantic Italian Tenors, alongside Fabio Andreotti and Mauro De Santis, he brings this experience to a project shaped by three complementary artistic personalities. The trio’s tours include the Baltic States and Canada, with concerts scheduled for 20 November 2026 at Teatro Mirella & Lino Saputo at the Centre Leonardo da Vinci in Montréal, and 22 November at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts in the Greater Toronto Area. Opera, Italian melodies and international repertoire offer opportunities for dialogue across generations and musical sensibilities.

Awarded the Premio Vigna d'Argento 2022, he pursues a personal artistic vision through AION – Contemporary Tenor: bringing the discipline of classical singing into dialogue with new musical languages, transcending boundaries between genres, eras and cultures to give operatic singing a universal, contemporary and timeless dimension.

Fabio Andreotti – Tenor

An Italian tenor with an established international career, Fabio Andreotti is an interpreter of the great operatic tradition, with a particular focus on Verdi and Puccini. His musical approach brings together a luminous vocal timbre, expressive intensity and attentive phrasing, placing the sung word and the voice’s ability to communicate directly with audiences at its heart.

Following classical studies and a degree in Political Science at Sapienza University of Rome, he began vocal training with Antonio Boyer. He attended courses at the international opera academy in Sulmona and became a pupil of Gianni Raimondi, a formative influence on his development. His further training included encounters with leading operatic figures such as Magda Olivero, Mirella Freni and Renato Bruson, within the Italian vocal tradition.

A winner of the Francesco Albanese Competition, he has undertaken major roles in the tenor repertoire. His operatic work includes La traviata, Rigoletto, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot, Aida, Ernani and Otello. Alongside opera, he performs symphonic and sacred music, including Verdi’s Requiem, bringing technical control into dialogue with dramatic characterisation and an attentive reading of the score.

His career has taken him to international stages including Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Cairo Opera House. Performances across Asia, the Americas and Europe reflect an openness to different cultures and audiences while preserving a strong connection to Italy’s operatic heritage.

His relationship with Russian audiences has been particularly significant, developed through numerous concerts at the Moscow International House of Music. Festival appearances in Berlin form another strand of a concert career embracing great arias, Italian romances and Neapolitan song. Throughout these repertoires, clear diction and natural storytelling remain as essential as vocal production, allowing musical expression to grow from the words themselves.

With the Romantic Italian Tenors, alongside Gianluca Paganelli and Mauro De Santis, he brings this experience to a project shaped by three complementary artistic personalities. The trio’s tours include the Baltic States and Canada, with concerts in Montréal and Richmond Hill scheduled for November 2026. Opera, Italian melodies and international repertoire offer opportunities for dialogue across generations and musical sensibilities.

His artistic vision seeks to celebrate the operatic heritage while remaining responsive to contemporary audiences. Fidelity to the score, authenticity of interpretation and continuity of the Italian vocal school guide a career that treats each concert as a living encounter. In this approach, familiar melodies and dramatic characters retain their expressive immediacy, inviting listeners to discover the emotional meaning of the music through the distinctive qualities of the tenor voice.

Mauro De Santis – Tenor

An academically trained Italian tenor with an international career, Mauro De Santis brings together the operatic tradition, sacred repertoire and symphonic music. His interpretative identity is grounded in stylistic versatility, technical discipline and attention to the relationship between words and music, qualities that inform his stage performances, concert work and activities sharing the art of singing.

Born in Frosinone, he graduated in opera singing from the Conservatorio Licinio Refice and continued his advanced training in Rome with Giuseppe Sabbatini. His studies brought him into contact with several teachers, including Cristina Piperno, an important influence on his technical preparation. Early experience also encompassed musical theatre and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, helping shape an approach open to different theatrical languages.

His operatic repertoire includes Alfredo in La traviata, Rodolfo in La bohème, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Ruggero in La rondine, Federico in L’Arlesiana and Fritz in L’amico Fritz. He has also performed parts in Aida and Il trovatore, as well as Hans Krása’s Brundibár. Works by Verdi, Puccini, Cilea and Mascagni form a significant part of his work, combining lyrical expression, dramatic characterisation and care for the melodic line.

Alongside opera, he maintains an active interest in sacred repertoire. His performances include compositions by Mozart, Schubert, Haydn and Perosi, in programmes requiring ensemble balance and sensitivity to the text. With Sapienza’s MuSa orchestra and choir, he participated in performances of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, including at the Pantheon in Rome, bringing music and spirituality into dialogue with an exceptional architectural setting.

His concert career includes collaborations with Ennio Morricone between 2017 and 2019 in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, together with recitals in several Polish cities. In 2022, he appeared in Helsinki for a recital honouring Beniamino Gigli. These experiences complement his work in opera and Italian song, extending a career in which the vocal tradition encounters different audiences, settings and musical forms.

Alongside performing, he engages in teaching and musical outreach at Sapienza University of Rome, where he has also given a lecture on operatic singing. Sharing musical experience reflects the same attention to words and technical awareness that informs his interpretations, celebrating Italy’s operatic heritage and the wider European vocal tradition.

With the Romantic Italian Tenors, alongside Gianluca Paganelli and Fabio Andreotti, he participates in a dynamic artistic collaboration bringing together opera, Italian song and international melodies. The trio’s activity includes concerts in the Baltic States and Russia and engagements in Canada, with Montréal and Richmond Hill dates in November 2026. Within the ensemble, his versatility contributes to a musical dialogue between complementary personalities and generations.