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About
Born and raised in Vicenza, Italy, Riccardo Atanasio earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance summa cum laude with honours mention from the Conservatorio di Musica di Vicenza “Arrigo Pedrollo” under Maestro Marco Tezza. A scholarship enabled him to study with Maestro Niklas Sivelov at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen as well.
A versatile pianist with a passion for all music genres, he served as principal pianist for a youth orchestra, performing in three musical theatre productions and numerous concertos as a soloist. In 2022, he became the musical director at the Soldier’s Theatre on a NATO US Army Base in Vicenza, winning a TOPPER award for “Best Musical Direction” for his work on Sister Act.
In 2023, Riccardo was selected as a Graduate Assistant in Chamber Music at the University of South Florida under Maestro Svetozar Ivanov and in 2025 he achieved a Master of Music in Chamber Music Performance. As a collaborative pianist, he performed with various USF ensembles, including the Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Musical Theatre department in classical and contemporary productions. In the summers of 2024 and 2025, he was selected to coach singers at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and the Chicago Opera Summer Festival, respectively. He has also worked as a rehearsal pianist at the St. Petersburg Opera in Florida.
In 2025 he started the MA in Musical Theatre Directing course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, to achieve his dream of becoming a professional musical director and pit musician.
Riccardo holds a UK Student Visa.
Bio:
Pronouns: He/Him
Nationality: Italian
Visa Status: UK Work Visa Application in Progress
Skills:
Instruments: Highly proficient MT and classical piano. Highly proficient sight reading. Highly proficient stick and keyboard conducting. Highly proficient rep/vocal coach.
Arranging: Arranger, Orchestrator, Vocal/Choral Arranging
Technology: Avid Sibelius, Apple Mainstage, Apple LogicPro, Qlab
Other: Languages: Italian (native); English (highly proficient). Holds: valid PVG
Previous Qualifications: MM Chamber Music Performance, University of South Florida, 2025; MM Piano Performance magna cum laude and honor mention, Conservatorio
di Vicenza “Arrigo Pedrollo”, 2022 ; BM Piano Performance, Conservatorio di Vicenza “Arrigo Pedrollo”, 2020
Work Experience:
Assistant Musical Director/Keys, Lés Miserablés: Foundation Workshop, RCS (in association with Cameron Mackintosh, MD Stuart Morley)
Associate Musical Director/Organ, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2025), RCS (dir. Aaron Lee Lambert)
Associate Musical Director/Keys 2, 9 to 5 (2025), University of South Florida (dir. Alexis Carra Girbes)
Associate Musical Director/Keys 2, As You Like It (2024), University of South Florida (dir. Douglas Hall)
Assistant Musical Director, HS and Aloha Singers (2024), Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (dir. Scott Skiba)
Musical Director, Sister Act (2023), Soldier’s Theatre Vicenza (dir. Jerry Brees)
Musical Director, Yule Be Swingin’ (2022), Soldier’s Theatre Vicenza (dir. Jerry Brees)
Associate Musical Director/Keys 2, The World Goes Round (2022), Soldier’s Theatre Vicenza (dir. Jerry Brees)
Other Experience:
Keys (Orchestra Italiana del Cinema), Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, (May 2026; December 2025;
December 2024)
Keys 2, Movies To Musicals 2026, Glasgow, (March 2026)
Rehearsal Pianist and coach, Chicago Summer Opera Festival; St. Petersburg Opera (FL); Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, (Summer 2025; December 2024; Summer 2024)
Collaborative Pianist, University of South Florida (Assistantship), (2024-2025)
Images
Riccardo playing the piano
