The Sapiens Suite Musa Jazz Orchestra
Conducted by Roberto Spadoni
Sunday, September 14, 2025
The Sapiens Suite is a work in progress, an open and ever-evolving project: a collection of pieces composed by conductor Roberto Spadoni specifically for the MuSa Jazz Orchestra — a sound journey that evokes the many traditional and modern styles of music rooted in the Afro-American tradition.
Blues, swing, Brazilian music, bebop, and many other elements come into play in the sound architecture of the suite, which continues to grow over time with new episodes. On the occasion of the concert at the Accademia dei Lincei, the program will also feature music by two great jazz musicians: Thelonious Monk and Benny Golson.
The Musa Jazz Orchestra
MuSa Jazz is the branch of the Musica Sapienza project open to the entire academic community and dedicated to music inspired by the Afro-American tradition, of which jazz is one of the most important and influential expressions. Since January 2024, it has been coordinated and conducted by Roberto Spadoni. The MuSa Jazz project is represented by the large ensemble MuSa Jazz Orchestra and the smaller MuSa Jazz Combo groups.
The Conductor
Roberto Spadoni is a composer, arranger, orchestra conductor, and jazz guitarist.
He has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Kenny Wheeler, David Liebman, Gunther Schuller, Maria Schneider, Dave Weckl, Hiromi Uehara, Paolo Fresu, Francesco Di Giacomo, Elio, Miguel Zenon, and Walter Smith III. He has conducted many Italian orchestras in concert, including the New Project Orchestra (Trento), Siena Jazz Orchestra, Orchestra Jazz della Sardegna, M.J.Ùrkestra (Rome), Vicenza Jazz Orchestra, Chieti Jazz Orchestra, and Cesena Jazz Orchestra.
He has released numerous albums as a leader with major Italian labels, including Parco della Musica, Splasc(h) Records, Via Veneto Jazz, Wide Sound, Abeat Records, Alfamusic, and Alman Music.
He has published the educational volumes Jazz Harmony 1 & 2 with Volontè & Co., for which he also translates major international texts on jazz studies. He has contributed to Jazzit magazine, publishing over 40 musicological essays.
He is a faculty member at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome and at the prestigious Siena Jazz Academy.
Since January 2024, he has been the conductor of the MuSa Jazz Orchestra, the orchestral ensemble of Sapienza University of Rome.
