Cettina Donato

Cettina Donato is an internationally acclaimed classical and jazz pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. Her highly original work often blurs the lines between genres: from jazz to classical, and from symphonic music to theatrical music. In 2011, while based in Boston (MA, USA), Donato formed the Cettina Donato Orchestra, a full size jazz big band with a string quartet featuring musicians from all over the world.

Across the ocean, in Italy, Donato is the only woman that conducts classical symphony orchestras performing a jazz repertoire while also contributing her own arrangements as well. 

Cettina Donato conducted the Bari Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (Bari, Puglia), the Vittorio Emanuele Symphony Orchestra (Messina, Sicily), the Lucca Jazz Orchestra (Lucca, Tuscany), the Molfetta Youth Symphony Orchestra (Bari, Puglia), the New Talents Jazz Orchestra (Rome).

Along with her many large ensemble works, she has regularly collaborated in a trio and quartet setting (as a bandleader) with some of the most renowned musicians of the international jazz scene (Eliot Zigmund, Stefano Di Battista, Fabrizio Bosso and many others). Donato was awarded the prestigious JazzIt prize (Italy) as Best Arranger in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2017 Donato released Persistency-The New Project featuring drummer Eliot Zigmund. Donato’s other works were released in 2008 (Pristine, Cettina Donato Quintet), 2012 (Crescendo, Cettina Donato Orchestra), 2015 (Third, Cettina Donato trio), 2019 (Piano 4 Hands), 2021 (I Siciliani, Vero Succo Di Poesia with actor Ninni Bruschetta, the BIM Orchestra and Dario Cecchini on saxophone, Dario Rosciglione on double bass, Mimmo Campanale on drums featuring Celeste Gugliandolo on vocals).
Donato graduated from Berklee College Of Music (Boston, MA, USA) with Degrees in Jazz Composition and from Conservatory "A. Corelli", Sicily (Italy) in Classical Piano, Jazz Music, Musical Didactic, from University of Messina in Social Psychology. Some years later Donato earned two Masters in Special Didactic. Donato’s artistic career is accented by teaching Jazz Piano courses at the Conservatory “N. Piccinni” in Bari (Puglia, Italy), Jazz Composition courses at the Conservatory “A. Corelli” in Messina (Sicily, Italy) and Jazz Piano courses at Global Jazz Music Institute in India.