Biography

Salvatore Vella was born in 1966. He studied at the "Vincenzo Bellini" Academy of Music of Palermo with Gerardo Petruzziello and he received a first-class certificate in 1985.  He improved with W:Schulz in Wien, A.Persichilli at the "S.Cecilia" National Academy of Rome, E.Pahud at the "Amici della Musica" of Florence and with A.Marion at the "Gubbio Festival" courses.
In 1984 he held the position of lead instrument in the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Mediterranèe and he has been invited in the E.C.Y.O. Orchestra and in the Italian Academies of Music Orchestra.  In 1985, he won the National Competition of Piccolo in the "Teatro dell'Opera" Orchestra of Genoa and the part of lead instrument in the "Banda Nazionale della Guardia di Finanza" of Rome. With this group he played and recorded for RAI.  In the same year he has been finalist at the International Piccolo Competition of "Teatro alla Scala" Orchestra of Milan.  He has played with orchestras such as "Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana", "Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI" of Rome, "Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera" of  Rome, "Orchestra del Teatro Lirico" of Cagliari, "Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala" of Milan and "Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro alla Scala" of Milan with conductors such as Muti, Sawallish, Termirkanov, Oren, Sinopoli, Inbal, Ceccato, Graf, Argiris, Renzetti and Gelmetti.
He won awards in national and international competitions such as "Boario Musica '94", "G.Briccialdi" National Flute Competition. He has won the second prize (first prize not assigned), at the "G.Briccialdi" International Flute Competition of Rome.  Playing with the "Quintetto di Fiati Belliniano", he has won a special prize about the performance of modern compositions at the "Città di Caltanissetta" XIII International Chamber Music Competition.
As soloist or as part of the "Ensemble Belliniano", the "Quintetto di Fiati Belliniano" and the duo with the pianist Corrado Ratto, he has been invited to participate in several prestigious institutions. He has been regularly asked to organize proficiency courses, in Davoli (CZ), Mascalucia (CT), Serradifalco (CL), Palermo, Giardini Naxos (ME), Giarre (ME) and Città di Castello (PG), where he assistet is Angelo Persichilli.
Since 1989 he hold position of lead and soloist instrument in the "Teatro Massimo Bellini" Orchestra of Catania (Sicily), and he is often invited as lead instrument in the "Fondazione dell'Accademia Nazionale di S.Cecilia" Orchestra of Rome, direct by Myung - Whun Chung. In 2001, with the same orchestra, he played in Japan and recorded for RAI, Musicom and Deutsche Grammophon.