MONDOLETTOSOTTOILCORVO was founded in 2018 by Gandolfo Pagano and Willehad Grafenhorst.

MONDOLETTOSOTTOILCORVO combines the experience of two musicians who grew up in opposite corners of Europe: Gandolfo Pagano in Sicily and Willehad Grafenhorst in a village of 1,000 inhabitants in Lower Saxony. They met in the Madonie mountains in Sicily and were struck by an immediate synergy that gave rise to the idea for this project.

"very interesting music" (RAI 3 - Battiti - 28.10.2021)

"in the sound energetics of this music one senses the ruthlessness of this natural event, to which animal and human disturbances apparently cannot harm anything" (DLF - Gisela Nauck - 24.04.2021)

MONDOLETTOSOTTOILCORVO is an electroacoustic and non-idiomatic improvisation project operating between performance and sound art. The research focuses on sound as spatial and temporal material, explored through instrumental and electronic improvised practices. The work favors open forms, slow processes, and layered sonic environments.

Gandolfo Pagano (Italy) 
A Sicilian musician with extensive experience in rock, blues and jazz, he has been dedicating himself to improvised music through timbral research for decades. He has a highly creative and dynamic approach to the guitar, often experimenting with objects that interact with the instrument itself, creating unconventional playing techniques. His guitar goes beyond its traditional function, creating evocative and abstract soundscapes that interact and blend with other musicians. His music can oscillate between atmospheric minimalism and emotional explosiveness, supporting a musical narrative that is constantly evolving.
He performs in Italy and Europe at festivals and international events.

He is co-founder, among others, of the trio TORBA with Tim Hodginson and Fabrizio Spera, the duo MONDOLETTOSOTTOILCORVO with Willehad Grafenhorst, and the trio NERO DIASPORA with Rossella Cangini and Fabrizio Elvetico.

He has played and collaborated with, among others:
Cat Hope, David Chiesa, Marc Dresser, Gianni Trovalusci, Lelio Giannetto,
Thomas Lehn, Michael Fischer, Eugene Chadbourne, Tristan Honsinger,
and was a member of the SICILIAN IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA.

Willehad Grafenhorst (Sicily)
Has played piano since childhood, later bass, sporadically trumpet and Hawaiian guitar.

Since 1980, he has been involved in various bands and projects, including “KIXX” (with Lars Rudolph, Jim Meneses, Wigald Boning, performances with Tadashi Endo), “Acapulco” (with Mark Scheibe), “Zentrifugal” (with Bastian Böttcher, Flo Mega), “Swim Two Birds” (with
Achim Gätjen, Michael Gross, Martin Klingeberg), “arbeiten am tx symbol” (with Marc Fantini).
Since 1990, he has been involved in computer visualisation, video, programming, the implementation of sound and video installations, and the composition and realisation of film and theatre music.

Since 2003, focus on the production of dance-video-music performances, video films and installations in the duo “cri du coeur” with Fine Kwiatkowski, in individual projects collaboration with artists from various genres such as Reinhart Hammerschmidt, Charlotte Hug, Isabelle Lé, Helge Leiberg, Michel Doneda, Le Quan Ninh, Davide Chiesa, Andrés Curchero, Wolfgang Schliemann, Willi Kellers, Gandolfo Pagano

Willehad Grafenhorst's current electronic music is based on the sounds of traditional instruments (bass, double bass balalaika, Hawaiian guitar, piano, keyboard, trumpet), digitally processed using computer programmes based on the Pure Data software.

Mail: info@mondolettosottoilcorvo.it