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MotoContrario is a collective of composers and performers based in Trento that focuses its artistic and research interests on 20th-century and contemporary music. It organizes concerts that focus interest in these genres, casting a critical eye on the 20th century and questioning canonical and official perspectives. It maintains a close relationship and constant exchange between artistic and research dimensions. Alongside concerts, it aims to organize workshops and open seminars on important and pressing issues in today’s cultural complexity. It is interested in the perspectives emerging from the relationship between music, art, science, technology and society.

It founded the Festival Contrasti, which it has curated and organized since 2014. The festival, through concerts and cultural events dedicated to new and 20th-century music, was created with the aim of shedding light on the many facets of the contemporary musical landscape, which is usually little-known or overlooked. It thus contributes to expanding the region’s cultural offerings, in lively dialogue with developments at the national and international levels.

Guests at various editions of the Festival have included prestigious ensembles and musicians such as Arsenale, Collettivo_21, Imago Sonora, Azione_Improvvisa, Taller Sonoro, Windkraft, SuonoGiallo, Duo Dubois, Icarus, mdi, Curious Chamber Players, Opificio Sonoro, Schallfeld, Hannah Weirich, Juliet Fraser, and others.

The Festival also hosts an International Composition Masterclass, taught by a different composer each year; teachers in recent editions have included Stefano Gervasoni, Pierluigi Billone, Marco Momi, Malin Bång, and Carola Bauckholt.

Over the years, MotoContrario has established collaborations with organizations in the Trentino region, as well as national and international ones: notable projects include those with Buonconsiglio Castle, the Laurence Feininger Center, the literary research magazine Anterem, Pergine Spettacolo Aperto, the Italian Society of Contemporary Music, the Smarano Academy, Stradanova Slowtheatre, Fabbrica del Pensiero, and others.

The collective has created the MotoContrario ensemble, which includes the same musicians participating in the project, along with contributions from artists outside the collective.
Current permanent members of the ensemble include Davide Baldo (flute), Emanuele Dalmaso (sax), Beatrix Graf (clarinet), Riccardo Terrin (trumpet), Marco Longo (piano), Alessia Pallaoro (violin), Andrea Mattevi (viola) and Ivo Brigadoi (cello).