BIO

Pietro Roffi's intensive concert activity has led him to soloist performances, with chamber ensembles and symphonic orchestras, in hundreds of concerts on five continents. His repertoire ranges from classical to tango, from his own compositions to film music.

On the occasion of Ennio Morricone's 90th birthday, he made his solo debut with the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Carlo Rizzari, at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, performing a new composition written by the Oscar winner Dario Marianelli for this special occasion.

Recent seasons’ engagements include debuts with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra in Zlín (Czech Republic), the AASSM Symphony Orchestra in İzmir, the CRR Youth String Chamber Orchestra in Istanbul and the Bursa District State Symphony Orchestra in Bursa (Turkey).

 

He has performed in prestigious seasons and theaters in Europe and across the globe, at venues in Germany (Die Glocke in Bremen, where he performed the “Fairy Tales” concerto for accordion and orchestra by V. Trojan with the Internationalen Jugendsinfonieorchesters), Romania (Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, with the National Youth Orchestra conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea), Lithuania, England (Royal Academy of Music in London and Peterborough Cathedral), Argentina (with a sold-out tour of thirteen cities), Malta (Bir Miftuh International Music Festival), China (Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen and the Nanjing University of Arts), Australia (Melbourne and Woodend Winter Arts Festival in the Victoria State), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Sala Italia and the Museu de Belas Artes and Belo Horizonte), Hungary (with the string quartet from the MÁV Symphony Orchestra), France, Spain, Croatia, Switzerland and Norway. His performances in Italy include events such as the IUC season at La Sapienza University in Rome, the Unione Musicale in Turin, Amici della Musica in Taranto, the Mantova Chamber Music Festival, the Narnia Festival, the Vittorio Emanuele Theatre in Messina and the Musica Riva Festival, where he was Artist in Residence in 2023. In 2022 he made his debut with the Odeion String Quartet in South Africa, performing in theaters in some of the country's main cities with his original arrangement of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons for accordion and string quartet.

In September 2021, he debuted his own composition, the "Goldberg Rework", in a duet with the Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova. To mark the centenary of the birth of Astor Piazzolla, in 2021 Pietro toured the "Tutto Tango #piazzolla100” project in Italy as a duo with the pianist Alessandro Stella. This tour continued in the following years, reaching several European cities including Paris, Barcelona, Bucharest and Iași, where they performed in 2025 at the “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre.

In 2017 he performed a concert suite based on the score for the film "Anna Karenina” composed by Dario Marianelli with the Roma Tre Orchestra, in Rome and Pordenone, under the direction of Luciano Acocella; on this occasion, Pietro met the Oscar-winning composer, who in November of the same year asked him to record the soundtrack of the film "Nome di donna" directed by Marco Tullio Giordana. He also recorded the soundtrack for “Pinocchio" (a film by Matteo Garrone starring Roberto Benigni), written by Marianelli and nominated for the David di Donatello Awards, the result of a close and ongoing artistic collaboration.

Highly active in the world of film music, Pietro Roffi has contributed his accordion to numerous soundtracks for both Italian and international productions. He recorded and co-produced the score for the French TV series La Garçonne (France 2) together with the group Mokadelic. His other collaborations include Solo per passione - Letizia Battaglia fotografa, a RAI TV film directed by Roberto Andò with music by Michele Braga and Emanuele Bossi; the film Rido perché ti amo, directed by Paolo Ruffini with music by Claudia Campolongo; and the anime series Dog Signal, produced in Japan, with a score by renowned composer Michiru Oshima.

In September 2019, Pietro released "1999", his first solo album of original compositions for accordion and electronica, for the INRI Classic label. In 2021 the album won the Orpheus Award for the best Italian accordion record of 2019/20.

In 2018, alongside the pianist Alessandro Stella, Pietro published the EP "Tutto Tango | Live in Rome" and, in 2021, "La vie en blanc", a monographic work on Erik Satie, for the Extended Place label.

Pietro’s music is regularly broadcast by major European radio stations, including BBC 3, WDR 3, Klassik Radio, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, NPO, Rás 1, Antena 2 Portugal, DR P2 and Radio France, and performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls worldwide.

In recent years, many of his works for accordion - from solo pieces and chamber music for string quartet or quintet to full-scale compositions for accordion and orchestra - have been performed at renowned venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Munich Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Zürich, Sala São Paulo in Brazil, the Belgrade Philharmonic and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.

His Valse-Rêverie for solo accordion is performed by Ksenija Sidorova during a European tour in 2025, which includes some of the most prestigious musical institutions such as Schloss Elmau in Germany, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzert Theater in Coesfeld, the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

His Nocturne for accordion and string quintet is included in the album "Piazzolla Reflections" by Ksenija Sidorova released in 2021 for the label Alpha Classics.

His works are now performed by accordionists worldwide and studied in leading European conservatories. Some of them have been chosen as required pieces for entrance exams, such as by the Department of Music Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.

He has held masterclasses as a lecturer at the National University of Music in Bucharest, recorded live concerts for national TV and radio in China, Romania and Italy and each year is invited to represent his home country by Italian Embassies and Institutes of Culture around the world. His students have won some of the most prestigious international accordion competitions (Coupe Mondiale de l’Accordéon and PIF Castelfidardo).

In 2010 he won the First Prize at the International Competition of Castelfidardo (virtuoso category).

Pietro studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome under the guidance of Massimiliano Pitocco, graduating summa cum laude. He has attended seminars with accordion pioneers such as Owen Murray (UK), C. Jacomucci (Italy), Y. Shishkin (Russia), F. Angelis (France), M. Rantanen (Finland), S. Hussong (Germany), C. X. Qing (China), R. Sviackevicius (Lithuania), I. Alberdi (Spain), A. Melichar (Austria).

 

A passionate teacher, arranger and author of transcriptions that broaden the contemporary accordion repertoire, Pietro Roffi is actively contributing to the rise of a new Italian school of accordion, nurturing an emerging generation of young talents.

Pietro plays a Scandalli Extreme built in Castelfidardo and is currently an accordion teacher at the “Domenico Cimarosa” Conservatory in Avellino.