Marcello Maio

Australian Hometown: Sydney
Education: Sydney Conservatorium of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Marcello Maio is a musician, composer and musical director. Accomplished in piano, piano-accordion, keyboards and flute, his trademark musicianship and versatility across a range of musical genres has established Marcello in some of Sydney’s most highly acclaimed Latin, Jazz and World music ensembles.

2013 saw Marcello on tour with Atlanta soul and r’n’b singer Cody ChesnuTT and band across Australia and New Zealand. It also led him around Australia with Baby et Lulu who feature Lara Goodridge (Fourplay) and Abby Dobson (Leonardo’s Bride). With concert pianist Ambre Hammond, Marcello performed the music of Astor Piazzolla in duet format at various theatres and halls in Noosa, Byron Bay, Blue Mountains. In 2014 saw the duo perform on ‘ABC Live’ at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith. 2014 marked the first appearance at Womadelaide festival in Adelaide with Baby et Lulu.

Recognised as one of the Top 20 Music Performers in NSW during HSC in 2004, Marcello went on to graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium in 2008, completing a Bachelor of Music (Jazz performance) under Mike Nock, Judy Bailey and Matt McMahon.

Raised in a musical family, Marcello regularly performs with his father Ross Maio (accordion virtuoso) in From Caruso to Bocelli and Viva La Fisarmonica Show. Since joining the Triple Aria award-winning band Monsieur Camembert in 2004, Marcello has performed in Bangkok, Canada, West Timor, New York, Sri Lanka, Shanghai and the

Gypsy Jazz festival in New Caledonia as well as a myriad of notable Australian music festivals including Woodford Folk Festival, Bellingen Global Carnival, Byron Bay Blues and Roots festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Noosa Jazz festival, Dreaming festival, Australian World Music Expo, Adelaide Cabaret festival and Brisbane festival.

Equally at home with Brazilian and Jazz styles as he is with European and African- American styles, Marcello’s interpretation and personal engagement with a diverse range of repertoire has seen him as a resident solo artist on SBS TV’s popular comedy series In Siberia Tonight.

Marcello composes and produces for a range of projects, most notably the Brazilian jazz flavoured pieces with Samba Mundi and for his jazz trio. Maio was commissioned in 2008 by Music Australas to write a 20 minute Tango work for the Compass saxophone quartet and in 2009 wrote the soundtrack to the Australian film documentary ‘Tea with Madame Close’. In 2010, Marcello collaborated with Roland Peelman on a series of arrangements and written a composition for the vocal ensemble, Song Company. This year sees Marcello exploring the world of EDM and sampled base music under the alias ‘Baggins’.

Constantly in demand in the Sydney music scene as a side-man and as a band leader, 2014 has already seen Maio perform a concert at Angel Place (City Recital Hall) alongside Australia’s premier flautist Jane Rutter, and soprano Yvonne Kenny.

Last updated 2018