Simone Rubino | Percussionist

“Only seven years into his career, Simone Rubino has established himself as one of the leading figures in the world of classical music”
Pamela Rosenberg, former Intendant of the Berlin Philharmonic

“How he oversees, manages, plays and caresses the various percussion instruments gives the impression that Rubino is able to elicit every timbre possible from an orchestra”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung

“What should one praise more: the incredible dexterity with which he executes thunderous rolls on the drums, tom-toms and bongos, makes the claves clang or dances along the xylophone? Or the sensitivity with which the gongs, chimes and cymbals blend with the high strings and delicate woodwinds?”
Isabel HerzfeldDer Tagesspiegel

““Simone Rubino gifted 20 minutes of marvel in which a minute body was playing surrounded by hundreds of conventional and unconventional instruments… – to play them with mastery often using the face and other parts of his body as surface to produce sound.””
slow-words.com

Short Bio

Percussionist Simone Rubino is taking the music world by storm. Winner of the ARD International Music Competition in 2014 and the Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2016, he has since been recognised as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellow (2020), dedicating his award entirely to commissioning new works and exploring experimental projects.

As one of the very few percussionists to have built an international solo career, Rubino has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Rai National Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. He has been working with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Gustavo Gimeno, Tugan Sokhiev, Manfred Honeck, Tan Dun, Michael Sanderling, Antonello Manacorda, Kristian Järvi, Elim Chan, Maxime Pascal, and Francesco Angelico.

Since 2016, Rubino has enjoyed a close collaboration with Maestro Tan Dun, performing on tours in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen), Poland, and Italy.

He has been Artist-in-Residence with the BR Munich Radio Orchestra in 2018 and with the Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic in Parma in 2020.

Rubino is a regular guest at major international festivals including the Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Leipzig Bach Festival, Bologna Festival, Czech Chamber Music Society, Musical Olympus in Russia, and La Folle Journée (France and Japan).

Alongside his international performing career, he is Professor of Percussion at the University of the Arts in Berlin (UdK), having previously taught at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne between 2019 and 2023.

Recent and upcoming engagements include two concerts as soloist and conducting the BR Munich Radio Orchestra, debut at Stresa Festival, the season-opening concert of La Toscanini in Parma in October 2025, Suoni Riflessi Festival near Florence, a collaboration with philosopher Umberto Galimberti at Fasano Musica, and an appearance with the Czech Chamber Music Society in Prague.

From 2025, Rubino also takes on the role of Artistic Director of the Fasano Musica Festival in Italy.

Media & Press

Here you can find downloadable pics and press releases (if available)

Download here the full set of images in high-res. Photos by Marco Borggreve (please display Copyright).

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A video selection

A few video of my performances

NDR Percussion 3:45

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Stefan Geiger, conductor NDR Percussion, ensamble Takemitsu: “From me flows what you call Time” for 5 percussionists and orchestra