Nando Russo studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he received his master's degree in concert soloist in 1998.
Nando Russo
Principal percussion
A year earlier, he had already graduated from the N. Piccinni Conservatory in Bari, Italy, and had begun studies in composition and orchestral conducting. In 1997 he joined the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra and in 1998 the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester under conductor Claudio Abbado.
In 1999 he joined the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to his permanent appointment, he has played with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and Stuttgart Opera, among others.
Nando has composed several works commissioned by the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Het Nationale Ballet, among others. He is often asked by the Conservatories of Arnhem, The Hague, Rotterdam, Groningen and Amsterdam and the Conservatories of Salerno (Naples-Italy), and Campobasso (Italy) as a member of the jury or as a master class teacher. Nando Russo was principal study teacher of timpani and percussion at the Conservatory N. Piccinni of Bari (Italy), taught at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and is to this day a teacher at the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg.
Podcast with Nando Russo
With a backpack full of percussion sticks, Italian Nando moved to Amsterdam at the age of 18. In the following episode of Klankcast, he talks about his studies at the conservatory, the feeling of coming home and the almost impossible choice between two dream jobs. How varied percussion is, he demonstrates at the orchestra's “playing place.