Dario Calderone (Rome, 1978) is one of the most representative doublebass players of his generation. Trained as a classical performer, he graduated with maximum marks at the Coservatorio di S. Cecilia in Rome with Massimo Giorgi. He studied later with Francesco Petracchi at the renowned Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona. Already during his studies he started his carrier as a chamber musician, becoming in 2001 a member of the chamber string ensemble “I solisti aquilani”, with whom he played as a soloist the Bottesini repertoire in Italy, Vietnam, Singapore and many other countries in Europe. After, from 2004 until 2006 he was principal solo doublebass of the orchestra of the “Teatro Massimo” of Palermo and of the “Teatro dell’Opera” of Rome.

In 2007 he decided to leave his Orchestra carrier and to focus on new experimental techniques. He became one of the few pupils of the well renowned doublebass player and composer Stefano Scodanibbio from whom he learned all the extended techniques from the last century. Moreover he studied experimental musical theatre with Georges Aperghis and Pierre Sublet at the HKB of Bern, working especially on the works of J. Cage, D. Schnabel and G. Aperghis.

Dario Calderone is well appreciated as a chamber musician and soloist,and focuses his activity mainly on the literature of the last 40 years. He is member of Nieuw ensemble (NL), Ensemble Algoritmo (IT) and Ensemble Laboratorium (CH), and has been often invited to collaborate with ASKO/Schoenberg ensemble and Klangforum Wien. He collaborated with a number of composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Ivan Fedele, Yannis Kyriakides, Georges Aperghis, Beat Furrer, Bernhard Lang, Terry Riley, Louis Andriessen and Robert Ashley in the creation of new pieces for solo doublebass or chamber music with doublebass. In 2008 co funds CO2, a duo with the flutist Riccarda Caflisch; in 2012 starts, together with Yannis Kyriakides, Anne Laberge, Wijk Hijmans and Reinier Van Houdt the MAzE project, based in Amsterdam, for experimental interactive composition. Regularly plays chamber music with Marco Rogliano and Mario Caroli.

He is regularly invited in many festivals of contemporary music (Biennale di Venezia, Nuova Consonanza, Auditorium Parco della musica di Roma, Traiettorie Parma, Rec Festival of Reggio Emilia, Tage fur Neue Musiek Zurich, Luzern Festival, Davos Festival, Festival d’Automne of Paris, Muziekgebow Amsterdam, November Music of Den Bosch, Gaudeamus festival, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Berliner Konzerthaus, Wien Modern, Huddersfield Contemporary music festival, June in Buffalo in NY, Reyna Sofia in Madrid, Festival de Alicante,NYID festival Tallinn etc...). He recorded for Wergo, Stradivarius, Attacca Records, Dynamic, Unsounds and the Bottesini B minor concerto for Nbb Records.

Active as a teacher he gave masterclasses in the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Uzbekistan state conservatory and the Shanghai music Academy. He also had different recognitions in competitions, like, among others, 1° prize at W. Benzi competition in 2002 and IMD Darmstadt Stipendiumprize in 2006.

He plays a Chanot from the beginning of XIX and a 5string Mattei, copy of Marcucci (1984).