Moll Roe - Irish Harmonica

Описание: Nicolas Bianco is a drummer, harmonica player, composer, and arranger based in Oberburg, Switzerland.

He has always enjoyed exploring various styles and techniques with his instrument. Introduced early to computer music production, he never stopped deepening his knowledge in this field to incorporate it into various projects. He blends his technical skills and know-how at the instrument to create organic and original combinations at the border between acoustic and electronic.

He discovered the chromatic harmonica in the middle of his studies and quickly decided to make it his second instrument. Along the way, he added the diatonic harmonica, inspired by giants of this instrument such as Howard Levy, Tian Long Lee, or Filip Jers, with whom he trained. This experience allowed him to perform in concert quickly and open an harmonica class at EJMA-VS in 2023, one of the few in the country.

After obtaining his first master's degree in pedagogy from the HKB in Bern, he continued his studies in composition and obtained his master's degree in composition after two years of study. With his mentors Peter Gromer, Stefan Schultze, and Frank Sikora, he was trained in arrangement for large jazz ensembles, symphony orchestras, and continued to develop his musical language. A great fan of the seventh and tenth arts, he regularly composes soundtracks for short and medium films, advertisements, and video games. He collaborates notably with Guillaume Darbellay for his capsules "Air Frais" and "Le Générique de ta Vie" as well as on a promotional campaign with Culture Valais. He composed, produced, and directed the music for the film "Jiyan," by Otis Birdy, which earned him the award for best original score at the Montreal Independent Film Festival. In 2021, he collaborated with conductor and violinist Droujelub Yanakiew, bassist Matteo Burci, and the VARIATIONS ORCHESTRA of Bern for whom he wrote three pieces for symphony orchestra and rhythm section. In 2023, he wrote the program for the 40th anniversary of EJMA-VS, over an hour of original music for big jazz ensemble with around fifteen guest soloists. The creation was performed three times at the Theatre Les Halles in Sierre and at the Jazz Day in Sion.

He also performs regularly on stage throughout Switzerland and abroad with his different groups. He is the drummer of the Swiss Jazz Ambassadors collective. He plays in the Blau Salvaje formation of Joan Perez Villegas. He is on electronics and effects in the quartet Aye! of Mirjam Hassig, nominated in 2021 for the ZKB Jazz Prize of the Jazz Club Moods. He produces and co-writes the next album of the group entitled, "The Moon Sets Twice" to be released in 2024. He created his Orwell Trio jazz trio in 2021 with Nadav Erlich and Tim Heiniger. The trio's first album was released in 2024 and free access on the Bandcamp platform.

Nicolas lives in Oberburg and divides his time between concerts, composition, and teaching.