Roberto Passarella

Composer & Arranger
Bandoneón player

About me

Roberto Passarella is an Italian composer, arranger and bandoneón player. His catalogue ranges from symphonic and concertante works to chamber music and new repertoire for the bandoneón, drawing on Rioplatense music, the European classical tradition and contemporary research.
His arrangements, including Libertango, have been performed by the Britten Sinfonia at the BBC Proms, the Prague Philharmonia and the New Mexico Philharmonic. His discography includes Messa Qoelet and Horizons, both released by Stradivarius, and El Nuevo Tango
Sinfónico, released by Centaur Records. He has arranged works for the film composer Franco Micalizzi.
As a bandoneón player he has performed since 2007 with his father, Héctor Ulises Passarella, first in his ensemble at the Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Teatro Marcello in Rome, then in duo on tours of China and Taiwan and at the Abu Dhabi Festival.
He studied composition at the Conservatorio Rossini in Pesaro and holds a PhD in Education from the University of Perugia.

Horizons

Nine original pieces for bandoneón, strings and timpani: a new chamber repertoire for the
instrument, between Rioplatense roots and contemporary writing. Stradivarius, 2023.

Tango for Symphony Orchestra

Arrangements of the Rioplatense repertoire, from Piazzolla to Pugliese and Plaza, for bandoneón and symphony orchestra, recorded on Reminiscencias Rioplatenses and Imágenes Rioplatenses. His Libertango has been performed by the Britten Sinfonia at the BBC Proms, the Prague Philharmonia and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

Messa Qoelet

A mass in ten parts for bandoneón, choir, string orchestra, percussion and narrator, with spoken texts from the Book of Qoheleth. Premiered in 2014 at the Palazzo della Cancelleria in the Vatican; recorded for Stradivarius (2022).

02 — ORIGINAL WORKS

Orchestra

Sinfonia in Stile (Symphony No. 1)

for classical orchestra · 2005 · c. 25′ · four movements · written at the age of sixteen
Score and Parts available

Sinfonia Concertante «Don Chisciotte»

for bandoneón and orchestra · 2017 · c. 28′ · four movements
Score and Parts available

Dottor Suffleus

for bandoneón and orchestra · 2020 · c. 41′ · nine movements · almost a symphonic poem, inspired by Paolo Ramaccioni’s literary work; written for the actor Orlando Mezzabotta’s stage performance
Score and Parts available

Ritmiche su un Tempo

for orchestra with bandoneón · 2017 · c. 8′
Score and Parts available

Messa Qoelet

for bandoneón, choir, string orchestra, percussion and narrator · 2014 · c. 59′ · a musical mass in ten parts with spoken texts from the Book of Qoheleth
Score and Parts available

Caravaggio: La forma delle ombre

oratorio for baritone, narrator, bandoneón, choir, string orchestra and percussion · 2008 · c. 50′ · on a text by Matteo Ricucci
Score and Parts available

Chamber orchestra

Adagio for Johannes (Brahms)

for chamber orchestra · 2012 · c. 6′
Score and Parts available

Pièce Ludique – Scherzando con Rossini

for chamber orchestra · 2014 · c. 5′
Score and Parts available

Saros

for chamber orchestra · 2021 · c. 6′
Score and Parts available

Chamber music

String Quartet No. 2

string quartet · 2007 · c. 17′ · I. Misterioso (Quasi un Preludio) – II. Vivace Grottesco
Score and Parts available

String Quartet No. 3

string quartet · 2008 · c. 14′
Score and Parts available

Elements

for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and cello · 2015 · c. 9′
Score and Parts available

Introduzione e Danza

for bandoneón and violin, or two bandoneóns · 2011 · c. 5′
Score and Parts available

Works for bandoneón

Horizons

for bandoneón, strings and timpani · 2022 · c. 55′ · nine movements · recorded for Stradivarius (2023)
Score and Parts available

Morphing Bandoneón Suite

for bandoneón and electronics · ten pieces
Score and Parts available

Frammenti per Bandoneón

for solo bandoneón · homage to Krzysztof Penderecki · published by Lumi Edizioni Musicali (2022)
Score and Parts available

Piccola Suite per Bandoneón No. 1

for solo bandoneón
Score and Parts available

03 — ARRANGEMENTS

Tango & Rioplatense

Libertango (Piazzolla)

Versions No. 1 and No. 2 for bandoneón and symphony orchestra; also for reduced orchestra with harp, string orchestra and string quintet · performed by the Britten Sinfonia (BBC Proms 2018), the Prague Philharmonia, the Mitteleuropa Orchestra and the New Mexico Philharmonic
Score and Parts available

Adiós Nonino (Piazzolla)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra; 2nd version for bandoneón and chamber orchestra
Score and Parts available

Escualo (Piazzolla)

for marimba and orchestra; also for solo violin, bandoneón and strings
Score and Parts available

La Cumparsita (Matos Rodríguez)

for two bandoneóns, choir and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

La Yumba (Pugliese)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

La Bordona (Balcarce)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Morena (Plaza)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Nocturna (Plaza)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Danzarín (Plaza)

for bandoneón and chamber orchestra
Score and Parts available

Toccata y Tango (Bacalov)

for solo violin, bandoneón and chamber orchestra
Score and Parts available

La Puñalada (Castellanos)

for string quintet
Score and Parts available

El día que me quieras (Gardel)

for string quintet
Score and Parts available

Songs & Film Music

The Godfather (Rota)

for bandoneón and string quintet · 2019; also as a duo for bandoneón and piano (Il Padrino)
Score and Parts available

Nel blu dipinto di blu (Modugno)

for bandoneón, choir and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Yesterday (Lennon / McCartney)

for bandoneón and strings
Score and Parts available

God Only Knows (Wilson / Asher)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Sweet Dreams (Lennox / Stewart)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Save a Prayer (Duran Duran)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

You Make Me Feel Brand New (Bell / Creed)

for bandoneón and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

See also Collaborations for arrangements of music by Franco Micalizzi and Héctor Ulises Passarella.

04 — COLLABORATIONS

With Franco Micalizzi

Orchestral arrangements of music by the Italian film composer Franco Micalizzi, recorded for his album Solisti (2020).

Trinity (Micalizzi)

for bandoneón, choir and large orchestra
Score and Parts available

L'ultima neve di primavera (Micalizzi)

for bandoneón, strings and percussion
Score and Parts available

With Héctor Ulises Passarella

Arrangements and orchestrations of works by the Uruguayan bandoneón player and composer Héctor Ulises Passarella, recorded on the albums El Nuevo Tango Sinfónico (2017), El Bandoneón y sus calles (2026) and Poema Tanguero (2026).

Poema Tanguero

for bandoneón, choir, piano and symphony orchestra · six movements: Desesperación – El Tango de Borges – Cadenza – El Campo – La Noche en la Ciudad – Compasión
Score and Parts available

Florida para Siempre

for bandoneón, harp, mezzo-soprano, choir and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Fiume e Terra

for bandoneón, voices and symphony orchestra
Score and Parts available

Suite Rioplatense

for two bandoneóns and orchestra; also in a duo version · I. Allegro – II. Coral – III. Fuga
Score and Parts available

Milonga para Neruda

for bandoneón and orchestra; also in a reduced version
Score and Parts available

Montevideo Diversa

for bandoneón and orchestra; also in a reduced version
Score and Parts available

Pieza Rioplatense No. 1

for bandoneón and orchestra
Score and Parts available

Tango para Haydée

for bandoneón and orchestra
Score and Parts available

Desolación

for bandoneón and orchestra
Score and Parts available

Preludio y Rondó Milonguero para Astor

for bandoneón and chamber orchestra
Score and Parts available

Homenaje a Susana Prunés

for bandoneón, solo violin and strings
Score and Parts available

El Choclo (Villoldo)

from the album El Nuevo Tango Sinfónico (2017)
Score and Parts available

El día que me quieras (Gardel)

orchestration of an arrangement by Héctor Ulises Passarella
Score and Parts available

05 — DISCOGRAPHY

2026 · Poema Tanguero — with Héctor Ulises Passarella
2026 · El Bandoneón y sus calles — with Héctor Ulises Passarella
2026 · String Quartet No. 2 — digital release
2025 · String Quartet No. 3 — digital release
2023 · Horizons for bandoneón, strings and timpani — Stradivarius
2023 · Imágenes Rioplatenses — bandoneón, marimba and symphony orchestra
2023 · Chisciotte | Suffleus — bandoneón and orchestra
2022 · Messa Qoelet — Stradivarius, with Maurizio Boldrini
2022 · Frammenti per Bandoneón — Lumi Edizioni, single
2021 · Mario Totaro: Ex Oedipo — as bandoneón player, Trio Diaghilev
2020 · Sinfonia in Stile — EP
2020 · Adagio for Cosmic Vacuum — music for media
2020 · Morphing Bandoneón Suite — bandoneón and electronics
2020 · The Bandoneón Plays Famous Songs — arrangements, bandoneón soloist
2020 · Reminiscencias Rioplatenses — Piazzolla arrangements, bandoneón soloist
2020 · Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 38 — virtual orchestral realization
2020 · Walking People — music for media
2020 · Franco Micalizzi: Solisti — arrangements
2018 · La voce di Fantozzi — Volume, album released alongside Mario Sesti’s documentary
2017 · El Nuevo Tango Sinfónico — Centaur Records, with Héctor Ulises Passarella

06 — MEDIA & PRODUCTIONS

Music for media

Production music for film, documentary and digital media.

La voce di Fantozzi

album released alongside Mario Sesti’s documentary · Volume, 2018 · eight tracks by Roberto Passarella
Un dolce addio · In atto · Una possibilità parallela · Da soli · Cruda ironia · Come fossero ricordi · Soffusa · Sguardi vivaci

Adagio for Cosmic Vacuum

album · 2020 · seven tracks

Walking People

2020

7 Epiche Variations

Dottor Suffleus (see Works) was originally written for the stage.

Productions & realizations

Virtual orchestral realizations, recording and mastering of works by other composers.

Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 38 «Prague»

complete orchestral realization with sampled instruments · 2020

The Other Side of the Bandoneón (Héctor Ulises Passarella)

recording and mastering

Lettere d’amore – Letters of Love (Kristin Amarie, David Lanz)

recording of the bandoneón (Héctor Ulises Passarella)

Original music, orchestration, mixing and mastering of his own albums are also by Roberto Passarella.

07 — BIOGRAPHY

Roberto Passarella (b. 1989) is an Italian composer and arranger whose work encompasses symphonic and concertante music, chamber works and original repertoire for the bandoneón, drawing on the European classical tradition, Rioplatense music and contemporary compositional research.He began studying the bandoneón at the age of eleven with his father, Héctor Ulises Passarella, and went on to study composition with Lamberto Lugli at the Conservatorio Rossini in Pesaro, where he graduated in 2014. In 2013 he attended Jorma Panula’s international conducting masterclass in El Escorial, Spain.In 2008 he composed the oratorio Caravaggio: La forma delle ombre, on a text by Matteo Ricucci, which he conducted at the Tango y Más festival in San Ginesio. In 2014 he premiered his Messa Qoelet, as bandoneón player and conductor, at the Palazzo della Cancelleria in the Vatican, under the patronage of the Embassy of Uruguay to the Holy See; the work was later broadcast by Vatican Radio.His arrangements, ranging from the tango repertoire to popular songs, have been performed by the Britten Sinfonia at the BBC Proms (2018), the Prague Philharmonia, the Mitteleuropa Orchestra and the New Mexico Philharmonic. He wrote the official arrangements of Trinity and L’ultima neve di primavera for Franco Micalizzi’s album Solisti (2020). In 2021 he conducted the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia and the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese in his own arrangements and original works.His work also extends to film and media music and to compositional research in virtual orchestral production, of which the album El Nuevo Tango Sinfónico is an example.Since 2007 he has performed at venues including the Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Teatro Marcello in Rome, the Museum of Music in Prague, the Shanghai and Wuxi Concert Halls, Taipei Concert Hall, the NYU Arts Center at the Abu Dhabi Festival, the Theodorakis Auditorium in Athens, and in Istanbul and at the Bodrum Music Festival in Turkey, often in duo with his father. He was the bandoneón soloist in Stefano Lentini’s score for the RAI mini-series Tango per la libertà (Rai 1, 2016), directed by Alberto Negrin.His recordings include El Nuevo Tango Sinfónico (Centaur Records, 2017), Messa Qoelet (Stradivarius, 2022), Frammenti per Bandoneón (Lumi Edizioni, 2022) and Horizons (Stradivarius, 2023). He also contributed eight tracks to La voce di Fantozzi (Volume, 2018), the album released alongside Mario Sesti’s documentary.Alongside his musical work, he holds degrees in philosophy from the Universities of Macerata and Perugia and a PhD in Human Sciences (Education) from the University of Perugia, awarded with honours in 2025. He is the author of Musica e totalitarismo: una questione di responsabilità formativa (Aracne, 2021).

08 — CONTACT

For performances, scores and performance material, commissions and collaborations, please use the form below.