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.