Andrea Ruocco

Andrea Ruocco is an Italian bassist, composer, music therapist, and researcher active in

jazz, improvised music, sound art, and interdisciplinary artistic research. His work combines

performance, composition, ethnomusicology, sound studies, and experimental sonic

practices, with particular attention to Gnawa musical traditions, sound identity, and situated

forms of knowledge.

He is currently pursuing a PhD in Sound Studies and Sonic Art at the Conservatory of Music

“F. A. Bonporti” of Trento and Riva del Garda. His research project, Sound and Identity in

Gnawa Tradition: Artistic Research, Sound Technologies and Formalization of Situated

Models, investigates the relationship between sound, rituality, embodiment, technology, and

identity through artistic research methodologies and an ethical, anti-colonial approach to

sonic studies. His supervisors are Prof. Nicola Straffelini and Prof. Guido Battista Raschieri.

Ruocco graduated with honors in Jazz Double Bass and Jazz Electric Bass and also holds a

diploma in Music Therapy from CESFOR (Bolzano). Alongside his artistic and academic

activities, he works as a music therapist in palliative care contexts and as a teacher of

electric bass and double bass.

As a performer, he has collaborated with orchestras, jazz ensembles, experimental groups,

and ethnomusicological projects in Italy and abroad. He has performed under the direction of

Ennio Morricone, Paolo Damiani, and Enrico Intra, and has participated in numerous

international jazz festivals and workshops alongside artists such as Uri Caine, Franco

D’Andrea, Gil Goldstein, and Enrico Rava.

His current artistic practice integrates improvisation, electroacoustic experimentation,

traditional music, and intercultural collaboration, positioning sound as both an artistic

medium and a critical tool for research and knowledge production.

Awards

First Prize – Trento Film FestivalMONTAGNAMBIENTENERGIA (2013)

Best Original Soundtrack

First Prize – Music 4 The Next Generation

(2015)

Arrangement of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5

Premio “Concurso Internacional Permanente De La Creatividad Al Piano”

(November 2022)

Composition: Prelude No. 1

Primo Premio “Euregio Klassika” 2025, categoria piano solo.

(September 2025)

Composition: Re-invenzione No. 12

Gear

Guembri, Colascione, Contrabbasso, Basso elettrico, Violoncello, amp

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