Photos by ©Massimo Bianchini and ©Marta Paganucci/IOSCATTO
Projects
Discography
Gallery
Video
The Orchestra SMS was founded as a chamber music workshop within the Scuola di Musica Sinfonia in Lucca, Italy, by Stefano Giannotti, and has been active since 2012, initially without a specific name.
It is a mixed ensemble featuring winds, strings, guitars, harp, keyboards, and voices. Its repertoire spans an eclectic range of genres, including post-punk, psychedelic music, progressive rock, Baroque and Renaissance compositions, with occasional forays into contemporary experimental music.
The orchestra, comprising 12 to 16 members, has developed several thematic projects over the years. These include:
- Musica sparpagliata (2023 – on)
- Rara Canzone (2021–2022), a collection of little-known or forgotten songs by both renowned and lesser-known authors, enriched with original compositions by orchestra members. This project later evolved into the current Musica Sparpagliata (2022–2025), which also serves as the title of a CD released by Altrock in February 2025.
- Da Oriente a Occidente (2017–2018), a musical journey exploring themes of exodus, barriers, and hospitality;
- Solchi Sperimentali (2015), a tribute to avant-garde music from Italy and beyond, in collaboration with Antonello Cresti and Vittore Baroni;
- Homage to King Crimson (2013), created for the presentation of Donato Zoppo’s book King Crimson – Islands;
The current repertoire includes works by Battisti/Panella, Velvet Underground, Robert Wyatt, Tuxedomoon, David Bowie, Young Marble Giants, Third Ear Band, Rick Wright, Giacomo Puccini, and many others.
The present line-up (2024/2025) is made of:
Eva Bartolucci, Xhensila Leka: flutes
Domenico Piegaia: clarinet, bass clarinet
Tommaso Barattini: clarinet
Riccardo Santabarbara: violin
Elisa Cheng: electric guitar, voice
Gabriele Stefani, Franco Cheng, Renato Carcatella, Alessio Luciani: guitars, voices
Jacopo Di Grazia: guitar, banjo, voice
Enrico Giuntini, Francesca Pezzuti, Viola Severini: keyboards, voices
Duccio Nieri: bass guitar
Matteo Lucchesi: percussion
Stefano Giannotti: conduction, arrangements
MUSICA SPARPAGLIATA is the first CD by the SMS Orchestra, produced in collaboration with the Sinfonia School of Music and the Laboratorio Brunier Musical Association of Lucca. It’s published by Altrock Records and distributed worldwide by Maracash. It’s a great result, a big achievement for us, and we hope there will be many more in the future… the repertoire is vast, ranging from Robert Wyatt to Battisti/Panella, from the Velvet Underground to Bruno Lauzi, from the Third Ear Band to Tuxedomoon. Basically, a very varied programme we’ve been working on for years and are very happy to have had the opportunity to publish.
RARA CANZONE
DA ORIENTE A OCCIDENTE is a project launched in 2016 that delves into themes of exodus, barriers, and hospitality through a curated selection of musical works, ranging from well-known to lesser-known pieces, all arranged by Stefano Giannotti for the SMS Orchestra. The mythological-Renaissance inferno of Miseri Habitator by Anton Giovanni de’ Bardi is set against the harrowing reality of Lullaby for Hamza, a lullaby composed by Robert Wyatt for children born amid the bombings in Iraq. Jean-Baptiste Lully’s March for the Ceremony of the Turks contrasts sharply with David Bowie’s Heroes, which evokes the imagery of the Berlin Wall. The journey concludes with Collective, an original composition created specifically for the ensemble.
MISERI HABITATOR (from the IV Intermedio de LA PELLEGRINA – Giovanni Bardi, 1564)
LULLABY FOR HAMZA (Robert Wyatt)
LET THE CHILDREN PLAY (Carlos Santana)
MARCHE POUR LA CEREMONIE DES TURCS (Jean Baptiste Lully)
HEROES (Brian Eno – David Bowie)
DA ORIENTE A OCCIDENTE (Franco Battiato)
COLLETTIVA (Stefano Giannotti)
ECHOES (Pink Floyd)
GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS (Peter Gabriel)
Discography
CD: Musica sparpagliata
Altrock/Ma.Ra.Cash Records 2025
Musics by Robert Wyatt, Battisti/Panella, Lou Reed, Third Ear Band, Tuxedomoon, Lavezzi/Mogol, Young Marble Giants, Rick Wright, Franco Battiato, Battisti/Velezia, David Sylvian, David Bowie.
Eva Bartolucci, Xhensila Leka: flutes
Domenico Piegaia: clarinet, bass clarinet
Tommaso Barattini: clarinet
Riccardo Santabarbara: violin
Giada Del Grande: voice
Elisa Cheng: electric guitar, voice
Gabriele Stefani, Franco Cheng, Nicolò Paganucci: guitars, voices
Jacopo Di Grazia: guitar, banjo, voice
Enrico Giuntini, Francesca Pezzuti: keyboards, voices
Sofia Paterni: harp
Duccio Nieri: bass guitar
Edgar Gomez: drums, voice
Matteo Lucchesi: percussion
GALLERY
2024 – MUSICA SPARPAGLIATA
Scuola di Musica Sinfonia: June 21st, 2024 and November 2024 session
Photos by ©Massimo Bianchini 2024
2023 – RARA CANZONE
Scuola di Musica Sinfonia, March 17th, 2023
Casermetta S.Croce, Questione di Stili, June 10th, 2023
Photo by ©Marta Paganucci/Cludio Bianchi – IOSCATTO
Jambona Lab, July 2023
2022 – RARA CANZONE
“I venerdì di SInfonia”, April 24th, 2022
June 24th, 2022
2021 – RARA CANZONE
I venerdì di Sinfonia, 2021 – Photo by ©Massimo Salotti
Questione di Stili, Associazione Cultirale Laboratorio Brunier, Villa Bottini, Lucca, August 28th, 2021
2020
L to R:Francesca Pezzuti, Olga Pezzuti, Beatrice Dami, Domenico Piegaia
L to R: Valentina Del Sarto, Gabriele Stefani, Giada Del Grande, Nicolò Paganucci
L to R: Matteo Raucci, Jacopo Di Grazia, Sofia Paterni
Enrico Giuntini, Edgar Gomez
SMS Zoccolo Duro . Stanze bucoliche, by Edgar Gomez
2019
2018
Cluster – Musica Contemporanea, Fondzione Banca del Monte, Lucca, April 29th, 2018
Photos by ©Marta Paganucci/IOSCATTO
Dietro Le Quinte, Sieci (Florence), may 13th, 2018
L to R – Top: Stefano Giannotti, Daniela Caroli, Rebecca Franceschini, Sofia Paterni, Duccio Nieri, Olga Pezzuti, Francesca Pezzuti, Lucia Pera, Monica Pucci – Bottom: Domenico Piegaia, Enrico Giuntini, Edgar Gomez, Gabriele Stefani, Pietro Phelan
Scuola di Musica Sinfonia, June 15th, 2018
Stefano Giannotti – Solfeggio Violento (2018)
2017
Cluster – Musica Contemporanea, Fondazione Banca del Monte, Lucca, May 14th, 2017
L to R – Top: Rebecca Franceschini, Olga Pezzuti, Emma Vicidomini
Bottom: Domenico Piegaia, Gabriele Stefani, Pietro Phelan
L to R: Gabriele Stefani, Pietro Phelan, Benedetta Bendinelli, Daniele Petroni, Lucia Pera
L to R – Top: Thiago Tiribocchi, Matilde Giannotti, Sofia Paterni
Bottom: Lucia Pera, Duccio Nieri, Enrico Giuntini
L to R: Gabrirele Stefani, Benedetta Bendinelli, Stefano Sestani
L to R: Pietro Phelan, Benedetta bendinelli, Daniele Petroni, Lucia Pera, Claudia Di Terlizzi
With the Jazz-singer Federica Gennai
Photos by ©Marta Paganucci/IOSCATTO
2016 – Solchi Sperimentali
March 4th, 2016
Stefano Giannotti, Vittore Baroni, Antonello Cresti, Bruno Romani, Andrea Selenio Pecchia, Riccardo Ienna
Orchestra SMS: Angela Messina, Domenico Piegaia, Gabriele Stefani, Pietro Phelan, Arianna Mandoli, Benedetta Bendinelli, Sofia Paterni,Daniele Petroni, Maria Lucia Marcelli, Lucia Pera, Claudia Di Terlizzi Duccio Nieri, Stefano Sestani
2015
Scuola di Musica Sinfonia, The Composers’ Session (Stefano Giannotti)
Echoes (Pink Floyd)
Lucca, Palazzo Ducale, Dec 22nd, 2015, Echoes (Pink Floyd), Biko (Peter Gabriel)
https://www.facebook.com/orchestrasms/
VIDEO
Sysyphus (Rick Wright)
Lucca, Scuola di Musica Sinfonia, June 21th, 2024
WATER (Third Ear Band)
Lucca, Scuola di Musica Sinfonia, June 24th, 2022
SOME GUYS (Tuxedomoon)
Lucca, Villa Bottini, August 28th, 2021
Laboratorio Brunier – Questione di Stili
MISTERO (Battisti/Velezia)
Lucca, Fondazione Banca del Monte, May 13th, 2018
Dietro le Quinte, Sieci (Firenze)
MISERI HABITATOR (Anton Giovanni de’ Bardi)
Lucca, Fondazione Banca del Monte, May 13th, 2017
Cluster – Musica Contemporanea
Video-documentazione: Marta Paganucci