Daniel Ott and Antonio Gaggiano

Foto: Manu Theobald

Daniel Ott, born in 1960 in Grub, Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, began his career exploring the intersections of composition, music theater, interdisciplinarity, and the development of new forms and formats after training as a classical pianist, studying theater in Paris and London, and completing composition studies with Nicolaus A. Huber and Klaus Huber. His work focuses on exploring the potential of music and its performance. He has created works for institutions and events such as the Stuttgart State Opera, Theater Bielefeld, Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, the Alpentöne Festival in Altdorf, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, and the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover (designed by Peter Zumthor). In recent years, he has developed large-scale landscape compositions that blend installation and performance, involving numerous participants. These projects have been realized in locations such as the Rhine harbor in Basel, the Neisse River between Görlitz and Zgorzelec, the Elbe River near Hitzacker, the Inn River between Tschlin and Nauders, the Danube near Donaueschingen, and the Westhafen in Berlin. In 1990, he founded the Festival Neue Musik Rümlingen, where he remains part of the artistic direction team. From 2016 to 2024, he served as the Artistic Director of the Munich Biennale for New Music Theater alongside Manos Tsangaris. Since 2005, he has been a Professor of Composition and Experimental Music Theater at the Berlin University of the Arts, and since 2015, he has been a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts.

Foto: musicianseyebasel

Antonio Gaggiano (*1999) is an Italian percussionist specializing in contemporary percussion music. He has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including Orchestra Europa Incanto, Orchestra Sinfonica della Magna Grecia, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Collegium Musicum Basel, and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. In 2018, he began studying composition with Maestro Stefano Taglietti, dedicating himself intensively to contemporary music and the exploration of new soundscapes and compositional ideas. Thanks to an Erasmus scholarship, he studied for two academic years at the KASK Conservatory in Ghent. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with distinction at the "Umberto Giordano" Conservatory in Foggia, Italy. In 2024, he also completed a Master’s degree in "Music Performance" at the Basel Academy of Music. Antonio has performed at renowned festivals such as the Chigiana International Festival, Musikfestival Bern, Mixtures Festival in Barcelona, Lucerne Festival, and impuls Graz. He has received several awards in competitions, including 3rd Prize at the International Composition Competition “Città di Albenga,” 2nd Prize at the WPM Snare Drum Competition, and 1st Prize at the World Percussion Movement Vibraphone Competition 2021. In May 2025, he was also awarded the Fritz Gerber Award by the Lucerne Festival.