Claudio Donzelli

Claudio Donzelli is a Berlin-based Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work moves between contemporary classical music, film scores and songwriting.

As a solo artist, he writes, records and tours piano-based contemporary classical music, often in dialogue with film and dance. His debut Frammenti (2017) is a mosaic of intimate piano pieces; Ossessione (2020) is a track, a short film and a contemporary dance performance at once; and When Galaxies Collide / The Ultimate Question (2024) are two opposite, interconnected pieces, each with a short film by Andres Hidalgo. His music has been called dreamy, cinematic and hypnotic, and compared to Yann Tiersen, Ludovico Einaudi and Ólafur Arnalds.

As a film composer, he wrote the original score for Ausgsting (2025), a feature documentary by Julian Wittmann, produced by Thomas Wittmann and released by Majestic and Warner Bros. Germany; the score includes Wild Darkness featuring L'aupaire. He also composed the original music for the Disney+ docu-series Farm Rebellion.

As a songwriter, he co-founded the Berlin indie-folk band Mighty Oaks in 2012 with Ian Hooper and Craig Saunders, touring Europe and the US and releasing records including their debut album Howl (2014), featuring the hit Brother, and Mexico (2021), both #10 in Germany. He also writes and produces with other artists, most recently Arms Wide Open with Lotta St Joan and Change with L'aupaire and Alberta Cross.

I do music because I'm in love with its mysteries and believe in its power to elude any attempt to reduce it to product, mere entertainment, service or formula.