Paolo Ricca Bio
Pianista, tastierista, compositore ed arrangiatore dopo gli studi classici consegue nel ’90 il Diploma Superiore in pianoforte jazz al CPM di Milano con Franco D’Andrea, proseguendo in seguito gli studi con Riccardo Zegna.
Nel corso della sua carriera ha all’attivo migliaia di concerti in festival, teatri e club in Italia ed all’estero collaborando con centinaia di artisti italiani ed internazionali.
Vanta oltre 100 pubblicazioni discografiche come compositore, arrangiatore e strumentista.
E’ da poco stato pubblicato il quarto album del suo Paolo Ricca Group, "Live and more" che comprende brani live registrati nel 2019 al In Progress One Festival a Sestu (Cagliari) più l'arrangiamento, registrato live in studio durante le sessions di Mumble, di "Dimensione terra", brano degli Arti & Mestieri tratto da "Giro di valzer per domani".
Segue i precedenti “Batik” (segnalato come “Miglior disco dell’anno” nell’annuale referendum fra i giornalisti musicali italiani tenuto dalla rivista “Musica e dischi” ) “Volcano” del 2009, e "Mumble" del 2018 che vede la partecipazione come ospite del chitarrista inglese John Etheridge (Soft Machine, Stèphane Grappelli, John Williams, Andy Summers/ The Police, tra gli altri).
Collabora inoltre con artisti di rilievo internazionale, fra i quali David Cross, violinista dei King Crimson, il flautista/sassofonista Theo Travis (Soft Machine, Robert Fripp) e il cantante americano Arthur Miles.
Nel 2023 pubblica il suo album di piano solo "My Italian Piano Songbook" che vede ospite in due brani alla chitarra John Etheridge. Nel 2025 il cd si è aggiudicato il Primo Premio come Miglior Cd alla "Swiss International Music Competition", prestigioso concorso internazionale svizzero, confermandosi come uno dei progetti pianistici più apprezzati sulla scena internazionale.
Realizza musiche per produzioni teatrali (Stefano Benni, Angela Finocchiaro) cinematografiche (Mimmo Calopresti, Silvio Soldini, Simona Ercolani, F. Patierno) e per la RAI.
Oltre all'attività concertistica, è anche un apprezzato didatta e collabora con Istituti musicali pubblici e privati.
Collabora con la rivista musicale svizzera Plug n’ Play con la pubblicazione di suoi articoli didattici nella sezione Masterclass – Piano e tastiere.
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PAOLO RICCA CURRICULUM ARTISTICO COMPLETO​
Paolo Ricca Biography
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Born in 1963 in Turin, Italy, Paolo Ricca began studying classical piano at an early age.
After school, he continued his studies and expanded into the realm of jazz performance and composition at CPM Music Institute in Milan, where he graduated, under the tutelage of Franco D'Andrea.
In the early 80’s, he began his professional career performing music for live audiences.
In just a few years, he performed in over 3000 concerts and festivals all over Europe, simultaneously building a solid reputation as a studio musician.
He has collaborated with various artists including John Etheridge (Soft Machine, Stèphane Grappelli, John Williams, Andy Summers/The Police) David Cross (King Crimson), Theo Travis (Soft Machine , Robert Fripp), Arthur Miles, F. Boltro, Furio Chirico, Lee Brown, La Verne Jackson, Mokhtar Samba ( Joe Zawinul's Sindycate, Jaco Pastorius, Carlos Santana), M. Orza, Dee D. Jackson, Haddaway and many others.
Moreover, he has performed in some of the most important Latin music festivals with several South American artists including Moncada, Ruben Rada (cofounder with Airto Moreira of the group Opa), Luzia Santana, Trasluz and others.
His interest in music technology, as well as computers, sequencers, looping, and sampling, has led him also to start with studio work, which includes engineering, recording, as well as arranging and composing.
He has worked for major recording companies, producing music on both a national and an international level.
Apart from being very active in every aspect of the music business, he also gives classes in both public and private schools, teaching piano music, theory, harmony, and composition.
His work includes music in the theater (Stefano Benni, Angela Finocchiaro) and film score (Mimmo Calopresti, Silvio Soldini, Simona Ercolani, F. Patierno) genres, as well as music for RAI (the national public broadcasting company of Italy).
He writes educational articles for the Swiss music magazine Plug n 'Play, under the section “Masterclass – Piano and keyboard”.
In 2018, his Paolo Ricca Group released their third studio album: "Mumble".
The album follows "Batik" (2006; voted "Best Album of the year" in the annual critcs' poll of music journalist conducted by the magazine Musica e Dischi , Italy's oldest and longest-running music industry pubblication) and "Volcano" (2009) – the latter featuring an English jazz-rock legend: the guitarist John Etheridge (Soft Machine).
He also collaborates with David Cross, violinist of King Crimson , with the flautist/saxophonist Theo Travis (Soft Machine , Robert Fripp) and the American singer Arthur Miles.
The fourth album by the Paolo Ricca Group, Live and more, has recently been released.
It includes live tracks recorded in 2019 at the In Progress One Festival in Sestu (Cagliari, Italy).
Paolo’s last release is the solo piano album "My Italian Piano Songbook" (2023), featuring John Etheridge on two tracks; in 2025, My Italian Piano Songbook won First Prize for Best CD at the prestigious Swiss International Music Competition, solidifying Ricca’s status as a leading voice in contemporary international piano music.