Nicola Mazzanti currently serves as Solo Piccolo of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra, a position he has held since 1988. Many composers have written for him, and, as a result, he has premiered dozens of works. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as I Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, the Florence Symphony Orchestra, and Akronos of Prato.
Mr. Mazzanti performs frequently as both a flute and piccolo soloist and in chamber ensembles in Italy and abroad. In his role of advocate for the piccolo as a solo voice, he has performed at the 2003 Vienna Flute Festival, the 2005 National Flute Association Convention in San Diego, California, the 2009 in New York, the 2013 in New Orleans, the 2014 in Chicago (with performance – and standing ovation – at the Gala), the 2006 International Convention of the British Flute Society, the first International Piccolo Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska (USA) in 2007, the 2009 Serbian Flute Festival in Belgrade, the 2011 and 2012 Iowa Piccolo Intensive, the 2011 First European Piccolo Festival in Slovenia, and in several Italian flute conventions. In 2011 and 2012 he toured the U.S. (California, Michigan, and Iowa) teaching and playing recitals. Sir James Galway has invited him to perform at his annual masterclass in Weggis, Switzerland since 2008.
Since 2001, Mr. Mazzanti has held annual piccolo courses at the MusicArea Academy in Florence and at the Italian Flute Academy in Rome. He has taught piccolo at the Hochshule Luzern since 2009, at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, since 2011, and at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan since 2013. He is frequently invited to give masterclasses for flute associations and music schools in Italy and abroad. He has released three solo albums, and his website is a regular destination for dedicated piccolo players. His book The Mazzanti Method, Vol. 1 for piccolo, published in 2014, has been welcomed as a milestone in the teaching of this instrument. The Mazzanti Method, Vol. 2 was released in 2024.
Mr. Mazzanti is a 1982 graduate of the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence, where he studied with Sergio Giambi. He later took lessons or participated in masterclasses given by James Galway, Aurèle Nicolet, Raymond Guiot, Emmanuel Pahud, and Mario Ancillotti. In 1986, he earned an additional degree in Music History from D.A.M.S. (University of Arts and Music).
