Andrea De Vitis (*1985 in Rome) has been awarded at the most important competitions and has performed in prestigious concert halls around the world. He is considered today one of the most renowned guitar teachers and motivators. Since 2023 he is University Professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
“Andrea De Vitis is one of those interpreters who conquer the audience thanks to the high-definition sharpness of his way of playing, to the extraordinary control of the dynamic and the agogic and to the clarity with which he asserts his thought, whilst also translating the thought of the Author” (Il Fronimo).
“His choices neither overwhelm the musical intention nor are they cliched; instead, they both enhance and clarify the music, defining structure and adding charisma” (American Record Guide)
“Everything his sound transmits isn't limited to the category of lovely and pleasant but constantly strives to trace forms that are drawn with extreme clarity, creating a small construction in which every acoustic object has its own place and a precise function in motion”. (Angelo Gilardino).
Andrea De Vitis received his musical training from Leonardo De Angelis, Paolo Pegoraro, Frédéric Zigante, Oscar Ghiglia, Carlo Marchione, Marco Cerroni.
His intense concert activity has led to invitations to perform as a soloist by leading festivals and orchestras in prestigious concert halls around the world (including Liszt Academy in Budapest, Grand Theatre in Shanghai, Krakow Academy of Music, The Sheen Theatre in New York, Royal Academy in Copenhagen, Omni Foundation in San Francisco, Saint Petersburg State Academic Capella).
De Vitis is considered today one of the most renowned guitar teachers and motivators: he is in high demand to teach masterclasses in prestigious academies (Maastricht Conservatorium, California State University, Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, Conservatoire de Lyon) or hold lectures on classical guitar repertoire (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Bucharest Academy of Music). He has taught in Italian Conservatoires and since autumn 2023 he is Univ. Prof. for guitar at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
He is an active recording artist and his extensive discography includes recordings for Naxos Records: an album about Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s works for guitar and the double CD “Alexandre Tansman complete works for guitar”, which includes the world premiere of newly discovered pieces and urtext versions of the other published compositions.
For the recording of Tansman’s complete works, he received the “Golden Guitar prize for the best CD” from the International Guitar Convention in Milan and some tracks from the album are included in the film “Impetus” by Benjamin Knoebl. He recorded also for Vatican Radio, Slovenian National Radio, Radio Zacatecas (Mexico), Dotguitar. Many times awarded by international critics, his albums and videos have already become reference recordings.
De Vitis has won more than 40 prizes in various international competitions, including first prizes at Guitar Masters Wroclaw, Forum Gitarre Wien, Iserlohn, Almerìa, Budapest, Gargnano, Gorizia; he also received 3 “golden guitar awards” at the International Guitar Convention in Milan and a special artistic medal from Senate of Italian Republic.
A supporter of new repertoire for the guitar, De Vitis performed the world premiere of numerous pieces dedicated to him and he regularly cooperates with composers such as Inés Badalo, Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Fernando Maglia, Francesco Telli, Angelo Gilardino, Steve Goss, Marco Ramelli, Marco De Biasi, Giacomo Susani, Nicola Jappelli. He also premiered “Tre danze in modo polonico” by Alexandre Tansman, recently rediscovered.
He is also very active as music publisher: very interested in the transcription process, he published his versions of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Enrique Granados. He also cooperated with Italian guitarist and musicologist Frédéric Zigante for the volumes dedicated to Alexandre Tansman’s music (Suites and Hommages). His editions and transcriptions are published by Hal Leonard, Productions d’Oz, Durand, Curci.
In addition to his concert and teaching activities, he acts as a juror at highly regarded competitions in Europe, including Forum Gitarre Wien, Budapest International Competition, Kutna Hora International Competition.
Andrea De Vitis is D’Addario artist and plays on guitars by Walter Verreydt and Hermann Hauser.