He began the trumpet at seven. From 2000 he studied at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatoire in Como with Pierluigi Salvi, graduating in 2004 with top marks, distinction and commendation, and with Max Sommerhalder at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold.
He has attended masterclasses with Maurice André, Éric Aubier, Stephen Burns, Markus Stockhausen, Pierre Thibaud, Edward H. Tarr and James Thompson, and has studied in the United States and Canada on scholarships from the Lake Placid Institute for the Arts and Humanities, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Domaine Forget and the Banff Centre.
Ha iniziato lo studio della tromba a 7 anni. Dal 2000 ha studiato al Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” di Como con il M°. Pierluigi Salvi, diplomandosi nel 2004 con il massimo dei voti, lode e menzione, e con Max Sommerhalder alla Hochschule für Musik Detmold.
Ha assistito a master class di Maurice André, Eric Aubier, Stephen Burns, Markus Stockhausen, Pierre Thibaud, Edward H. Tarr e James Thompson. Si è perfezionato inoltre negli the United States e nel Canada, fruendo di borse di studio del Lake Placid Institute for the Arts and the Humanities, dell’Interlochen Center for the Arts, del Domaine Forget e del Banff Centre.
first prize
at the second International Trumpet Competition at the“P. I. Tchaikovsky” Conservatory in Moscow , and shortly afterwards was overall winner of the Concertino Prague international radio competition . He was honoured twice at the European Culture Awards (Munich 1999 and Berlin 2002). A year before finishing school he won second prize and the audience prize at the ARD International Music Competition inMunich , having already won the “Timofei Dokshizer” competition in Vilnius, the Prague Spring International Music Competition and (jointly) the “Maurice André” International Competition of the City of Paris. From 2008 to 2010 he was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist.As an orchestral player, Giuliano Sommerhalder has appeared in the major musical centres of Europe, the United States and Asia , working with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Mariss Jansons, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernard Haitink, Charles Dutoit, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Kurt Masur, Sir Roger Norrington, Mstislav Rostropovich, David Zinman and Lorin Maazel. Maazel appointed him
principal trumpet of his Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana at the Palau de les Arts“Reina Sofía” in Valencia in 2005. From 2006 to 2011 Giuliano Sommerhalder held the same position with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, and from 2011 to 2013 he was principal trumpet of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam under Mariss Jansons prima tromba presso l’Orchestra del Concertgebouw di Amsterdam sotto la direzione di Mariss Jansons.
Musikverein in Vienna (in Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto), at theBerlin Philharmonie and at the Parco della Musica in Rome , at the Lucerne, London and Schleswig-Holstein festivals, with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra , theIndianapolis Symphony Orchestra , theDeutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, theNDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, theMDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, the chamber orchestras of Zurich, Basel, the European Union, Munich and Lithuania, the “Moscow Soloists” and the national radio orchestras of Poland and the Czech Republic. In 2014 he made his debut in South Africa (Durban) and in Asia (Hong Kong) . He has made two solo recordings (Romantic Virtuosity, 2008, and Amilcare Ponchielli: Concertos, 2010), one with Italian Wonderbrass (Pines of Rome, 2010) and one on period instruments (J. F. Fasch: Concerti & Ouvertures, 2010), besides CDs and DVDs as an orchestral player and numerous radio recordings . In 2012, together with his brother Simone and the Swiss euphonium player Roland Fröscher, he was awarded the ECHO Klassik recording prize by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie.. Ha al suo attivo due incisioni come solista (Romantic Virtuosity, 2008 e Amilcare Ponchielli: Concertos, 2010), una con l’Italian Wonderbrass (Pines of Rome, 2010), una su strumenti d’epoca (J.F. Fasch: Concerti & Ouvertures, 2010), oltre a incisioni CD e DVD in qualità di orchestrale e numerose incisioni radiofoniche. Nel 2012, assieme a suo fratello Simone e all’eufonista svizzero Roland Fröscher, gli viene conferito dalla Deutsche. Nel 2012, assieme a suo fratello Simone e all’eufonista svizzero Roland Fröscher, gli viene conferito dalla Deutsche Phono Akademie il premio discografico ECHO Klassik.