Orchestra SMS


Orchestra SMS 2024, Photo by ©Massimo Bianchini

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:

  • Homage to King Crimson (2013), created for the presentation of Donato Zoppo’s book King Crimson – Islands;
  • Solchi Sperimentali (2015), a tribute to avant-garde music from Italy and beyond, in collaboration with Antonello Cresti and Vittore Baroni;
  • Da Oriente a Occidente (2017–2018), a musical journey exploring themes of exodus, barriers, and hospitality;
  • 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.

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

 

 

 

 


Orchestra SMS 2021, photo by ©Massimo Salotti

 

DA ORIENTE A OCCIDENTE is a project started in 2016 that addresses the themes of exodus, walls, and reception through more or less well-known musical pieces arranged by Stefano Giannotti for the SMS Orchestra. Thus the mythological-Renaissance hell of MISERI HABITATOR by Anton Giovanni de’ Bardi combines with the real hell of LULLABY FOR HAMZA, a lullaby written by Robert Wyatt for children born under bombings in Iraq; Jean Baptiste Lully’s MARCH FOR THE CEREMONY OF THE TURKS counterbalances the Berlin Wall of David Bowie’s HEROES, and so on until the piece COLLECTIVE, written especially for the ensemble

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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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)

 

SMS-Cluster-Arduino

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/orchestrasms/

VIDEO

 

 

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