Giampaolo Bandini is today considered among the best guitarists of his generation.Brilliantly graduated at only nineteen years old, he owes his musical training to Maestro Giovanni Puddu. On the chamber music side, he trained at the prestigious Imola Piano Academy with musicians such as Pier Narciso Masi, Alexander Lonquich, Dario De Rosa, Maureen Jones and Franco Gulli. Giampaolo Bandini was a member of the only guitar duo that succeeded in entering the roll of honors of the most prestigious international chamber music competitions, bringing back the absolute 1st prize on each occasion: XI Concorso “Città di Caltanissetta” (member of the Federation of International Competitions of Geneva) 1995; Perugia, Gubbio , Palmi , Rome (ARAM) , Milan (GMI). Since 1990 he has been a guest, both as soloist and in various chamber ensembles, of the most important concert institutions in Italy and abroad (Carnegie Hall in New York, Musikhalle in Hamburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, IRCAM in Paris, Chopin Museum in Warsaw). G. Bandini also regularly figures as a soloist and with orchestra in the billboards of the most important festivals in Europe, the United States and South America (Mexico, France, Croatia, Germany, the USA, Slovenia, Switzerland,Hungary, Poland, Russia, etc.). In 2003 he was nominated by the readers of “Guitart” magazine as the best Italian guitarist of the year. He collaborates regularly with the likes of Massimo Quarta, Danilo Rossi, Arnoldo Foà, Pavel Berman, Corrado Giuffredi, Cesare Chiacchiaretta, Andrea Griminelli, Trio di Parma, Massimo Mercelli, Lorna Windsor. He recently had the privilege of performing Leo Brouwer’s “Concerto Elegiaco” for guitar and orchestra, under the direction of the composer himself. For some time now he has been enthusiastically devoting himself to the study of nineteenth-century performance practice on period instruments, collaborating and playing in a duo with the leading specialist in the field: the Czech guitarist Pavel Steidl, with whom he has formed a strong artistic-professional partnership. As a teacher he is regularly invited by the most prestigious Academies and Institutions:Chopin Academy in Warsaw;Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory in St.Petersburg; Arts Academy in Rome. He currently teaches guitar at the Musical Academy of the Cinghio Theater in Parma and chamber music at the “F. Tarrega” Academy in Pordenone. On the occasion of the Verdi Centenary (2001), he made the world’s first CD recording of Mertz’s Fantasie on Verdi’s operas for the Niccolò record company, obtaining enthusiastic acclaim from the most important specialized magazines. He has made radio and television recordings for the most important Italian and foreign broadcasters (RAI 3, RTSI, Radio Tre, Radiocapodistria, etc.). He is often invited to serve on juries of music and guitar competitions both in Italy and abroad. He plays a guitar by luthier Antonino Scandurra.