Sergio Pallottelli captivates and dazzles audiences worldwide. As a soloist and avid chamber musician, he has performed in halls of Europe, Australia, US and South America. Constantly in search of a new composition or a new piece to adapt for the flute, he offers elegant and passionate programming. Pallottelli communicates with his audiences in the most charismatic way, be it in major orchestra halls or chamber settings alike. His virtuosic and poetic style of playing has a human approach to it and is always at the service of music; his sound is alive and multicolored, his phrasing elegant yet daring. He is interested in a wide variety of styles, which drives him to collaborate with composers world-wide. His love for chamber music has brought him to perform with top musicians from five continents.
Pallottelli is equally at home playing and teaching music from the Baroque to our time, as well as music of Latin America. Having toured Central America and South America for over ten years, he has developed a deep passion for the music of Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. Performing music of our time plays an important role in Pallottelli’s career as it is a living continuation of history and musical development; he frequently collaborates with composers to increase the repertoire for the flute and has premiered several new works for the instrument. This always opens new windows of knowledge, brings great freshness to his playing and broadens his musical horizon.
The past season included recitals, concertos and master classes at the International Flute Festivals of Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Belgium and Canada. Further engagements took Pallottelli to Rice University, University of Houston and University of Utah. He spent the summer performing and teaching chamber music in France and Italy.
The upcoming season brings recitals and chamber music collaborations in the US, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Canada, France, Spain, Japan and Italy. In July he will be continuing the extremely successful “Flauti al Castello”, a week long flute class in the heart of Tuscany, joined again this year by flutist Mark Sparks and will again be on faculty of the Zodiac Festival in France.
In 2011 Pallottelli relocated to Houston, Texas. The new home has him teaching a private studio of advanced flutists, playing with the leading music organizations in the area, as well as pursuing a busy performing and teaching activity away from home. Prior to the move to Houston he lived in Connecticut, where he was adjunct flute faculty at University of Bridgeport as well as at the prestigious Taft School. Since 2017 he is Professor of Flute at Longy School of Music of Bard College, in Boston.
Pallottelli was born in New York City, of an Italian father, a journalist and photographer, and a German mother, a painter and textile designer, who raised him in Italy from an early age. Growing up in rural Tuscany, he lived the simple life, but was exposed to art and music for as long as he can remember. The house was always full of friends from all parts of the world, artists, singers, musicians and scientists. The languages spoken on a daily basis were Italian, English and German. Pallottelli later also became fluent in Spanish, as a result of his frequent travels to South and Central America. At high-school age he moved to Siena, to pursue more serious musical studies at the Conservatory. After high school he moved to Milan and entered the Conservatory, graduating shortly after. He has lived in Milan, Monterchi, Siena, Salt Lake City, New Haven and Houston. Thanks to his travels and many close friendships both within and outside the music world, there are many places he calls home, in Europe, Latin America and North America.
Pallottelli holds performance degrees from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan, Italy, University of Utah and Yale School of Music. He spent several summers working intensely with French flute legend Maxence Larrieu, who taught with great discipline, style and verve, to make a significant impression on Pallottelli’s playing and musicianship.
Pallottelli performs on a wood flute made by Sanko Flutes of Japan and head joints by Sankyo Flutes of Japan and Hernandez Flutes of Argentina.
Teaching Philosophy
The goal in my teaching is to search for every single student’s individuality. Through teaching and inspiring them I try to make them discover their personalities in a musical sense. I feel it is important to send young musicians out into the world with a great knowledge not only of the specifics of their instrument and of performance practice matters, but also of how to be a successful musician in the music world. Through dialogue, research, listening and structuring their regime as a musician during their formative years, I try to establish a solid teacher-student relationship with them so they can become great voices of music in the future. Positive attitude is at the base of my temperament as a teacher; I always treat each student as an individual, without comparing him or her to any others. They are all individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses. I try to guide them into understanding that they can overcome anything and make the best out of what they initially thought were shortcomings. Lastly and most importantly, I try to transmit to them my love for music, and the reasons we all choose to be artists. I encourage listening to, attending, and discussing musical performances of every kind as it all adds to the kind of person and musician they will be. Some will be performers, some teachers, and some will do both, and the future and development of our art depends on all these factors. Lastly, the connection between our heart, our humanity and our art, are vital to ensuring excellence in our lives. We will be kinder artists, kinder spirits and will build stronger ties with our colleagues, our students and our peers.