Francesco Maffei, trombone

Scholarship holder since 2025

The Italian trombonist Francesco Maffei, born in 2005, completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Bergamo Conservatory. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the University of the Arts in Bern with Ian Bousfield. Even as a teenager, he won numerous prizes at national and international competitions, including first prize at the “Rizzardo Bino” Competition in Braone. In 2021, he received a scholarship from the Rotary Club at the “G. Donizetti” Conservatory in Bergamo under Maestro Ermes Giussani. At the age of 16, he performed as a soloist with Nino Rota’s Trombone Concerto at the Teatro Sociale in Bergamo.

In 2022, he was awarded the “Professione Orchestra” (RAI) scholarship and performed the trombone solo in Pulcinellaby Igor Stravinsky with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. In the same year, he represented Italy in the final of the Thomas Kuti Competition in Klagenfurt and was appointed principal trombonist of the Young Concertgebouw Orchestra.

He has participated in major orchestral projects such as the Mahler Student Festival Orchestra in Belgium. In 2023 and 2024, he served as principal trombonist of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra. In 2024, he won the audition for the position of principal trombonist with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento.