“ON” Stage – Samantha Giordano e Michele Bonivento

Samantha Giordano

Born in 1984 in Valenza (Alessandria), Samantha Giordano developed a deep passion for music at an early age, beginning her piano studies at eight and entering the “Antonio Vivaldi” Conservatory in Alessandria three years later. She trained under Masters Gianfranco Bottino and Francesco Audino, as well as Ty LeBlanc, Franca Pullia, Laura Copiello, Federica Baccaglini, and Silvia Girotto. Alongside her recording and live career, she has dedicated herself to teaching modern singing since 2014, constantly updating her skills through high-profile workshops, masterclasses, and conferences.

After relocating to Trento, she made her early artistic debut at seventeen as the frontwoman of the rock band Mephisto’s Rock Café, and the following year joined the choir for the rock opera Tommy by The Who. She later performed as an understudy for the lead role in the musical The Last Five Years. In Trentino-Alto Adige, she launched the original pop-rock project NOEMA, touring the Triveneto region and gaining intensive recording studio experience alongside prominent professionals such as producer Rossano Eleuteri (Nek, Riccardo Cocciante, Gipsy Kings), sound engineer Marco Dallago (Lucio Dalla, Fiorella Mannoia, Elisa), and drummer Francesco Dalla Pellegrina (Negrita).

Moving to Venice, in 2008 she became the vocalist for Quiet Steam and Skip System (now GmG & The Beta Project), releasing the albums Queen With No Crown and Lost and Found. Since 2010, she has toured extensively with the Why Not Acoustic Quartet, and worked as a backing vocalist for Texan singer Ty LeBlanc at the Pistoia Blues and Trasimeno Blues Festivals, sharing the stage with blues icons such as Pippo Guarnera, Vince Valicelli, and Nick Becattini.

In 2013, she joined the Venice Gospel Ensemble, directed by Luca Pitteri, and collaborated as a session vocalist on deep-house projects with DJ Daniele Bonaldo. In 2014, she was selected as an alto backing vocalist for the Pink Floyd tribute band Gambler, while simultaneously performing with Sam & The Goodfellas, Black Coffee Acoustic Band, and RonnyB.

In 2017, she co-founded The Echoes – A New Pink Floyd Acoustic Experience, a minimalist acoustic tribute that collaborated with Turkish pianist AyseDeniz Gokcin and quickly booked national theater tours. Since 2017, she has been a regular performer at the annual “Laguna Blues Festival” in Falkenstein, Germany, curated by guitarist Francesco Boldini. In October 2018, she won “The Best Voice” competition in Codognè (Treviso). That same year, she and Ty LeBlanc contributed backing vocals to the album Social Superstar by the trio Thrust (Michele Bonivento, Daniele Vianello, and Francesco Inverno).

Since 2019, Samantha has explored Funk and Progressive genres with ensembles like Ernja Baby Gang, Charlie and The Super Bad News Big Band, Tibet Nazca, and Ice Thing (Sting & The Police Tribute). As a singer-songwriter, she released the single “Freddo Candido Silenzio” in 2013, kicking off a long-standing collaboration with producer Michele Bonivento, who also produced her debut EP On (2020)—featuring six original tracks and a tribute to Sade. Today, she continues to release original singles ahead of her upcoming solo album.

Samantha Giordano is an explosive vocalist and frontwoman across various ensembles.
Rooted in her deep love for American black music, she brings over twenty years of live and studio experience both in Italy and abroad, having shared the stage with top-tier national musicians at highly prestigious venues.

Her debut album, On, is a collection of songs written over just a few months, brimming with positive vibrations. Its lyrics celebrate love as a universal energy—one essential for breaking free from preconceived notions and embracing absolute honesty with oneself and, ultimately, with the world.

The album’s artistic production was entrusted to Michele Bonivento, whose ear and intuition were vital in carving out the perfect sonic balance: staying true to her black music influences while highlighting a more European acoustic, singer-songwriter texture.

Samantha describes the record as follows:

“ON is a container of meanings—a very powerful, fluid monosyllable.
ON means ‘being switched on,’ keeping your antennas up to truly perceive what is happening both all around you and deep within.
ON means moving forward, overcoming every obstacle on the road, and stepping into the strength and awareness that only the unknown parts of ourselves and the world can offer.
ON is movement and discovery. The seed of every single track was born in motion: in a car, on a train, on a plane, or while walking… always moving forward, toward something completely new.”

Michele Bonivento

Specializing in Afro-American music, Michele Bonivento is equally at home with acoustic arrangements, electronic music, and contemporary sonic experimentation. His extensive career includes over 80 recorded albums, musicals, sound design for national television networks, theatrical productions, contemporary art exhibitions, and commercials.

He has performed thousands of concerts at festivals and clubs across Europe, the United States, and China, collaborating with renowned artists such as Cheryl Porter, Dana Gillespie, Janice Harrington, Ana Popovic, Carl Verheyen, Kirk Fletcher, Stan Sergeant, Big Pete Pearson, Mindi Abair, Jim Peterik, Louisiana Red, Mike Sponza, Joyce Yuille, Ronnie Jones, Ian Siegal, Dudu Kouate, Badara Seck, and many others.

As a solo artist, he has composed five albums: Soul Heart Real (Michele Bonivento Organ Trio, 2008), Nuance (2010), Future Spring (2013), California Road (2023), and Soul Toys (2024). His album Future Spring, inspired by the harmony between nature and technology, won first prize in the international “The Grand Challenge” contest in 2019. In 2022, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival.
His composition “Novi Svet,” performed by Mattia Zannatta and Angela Kassiani, competed in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest representing Serbia.