Mauro Durante Violin and Tambourello
Giulio Bianco Wind Instruments
Francesca Della Monaca Vocals and Tambourello
Giovanni Amighetti Keyboards and Effects
Luca Nobis Guitar
Leonardo Cordella Accordeon and Tambourello
Valerio ›Combass‹ Bruno Bass

Taranta! are based in Salento, Italy, where they hold ›La Notte della Taranta‹ an annual festival which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and which is broadcast on live television. The Italian temperament, musical virtuosity and musical frenzy regularly gets audiences dancing in the aisles. Since the Middle Ages, there has been such music and dancing in this region, created with the intention of healing people. The tarantula, a venomous spider, gave its name to the frenzied dances performed by those it had bitten, in order to force the poison from their bodies.

As a band project in which the best musicians from the various taranta groups take part, Taranta! was originally created by Daniele Durante and his son Mauro. In 2021, Mauro Durante took over artistic directorship and, for the first time in its history, toured Germany with an all-star line-up and shared some of the highlights of this very special music.

»…talent of the century«, so described the Tagesspiegel Tarmo Peltokoski. This Finnish conductor was appointed ›Principal Guest Conductor‹ by the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen in January 2022 – the first conductor to hold this position.

In recent seasons, Peltokoski has debuted at many major festivals, including the Rheingau Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, as well as in the great concert halls such as the Köln Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. In addition, he has given debuts with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. At just 22, Peltokoski conducted his first complete Ring Cycle as well as another significant Wagner work – Tristan und Isolde – at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. In the same year, he was also appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest, Musical and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Designate of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

In the 2022/23 season, Tarmo Peltokoski is due to conduct the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, the RSB Berlin, The Hallé, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Göteborgs Symfoniker, San Diego Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Hollywood Bowl.

In 2023 Tarmo Peltokoski was awarded the OPUS Klassik for his recording with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

In addition to piano and conducting, Peltokoski also studied composition and arranging and has a particular penchant for musical comedy and improvisation.