Mirko Guerrini was a 1973 native of Florence, Italy. He received a diploma in classical saxophone and began to study jazz under the guidance of Pietro Tonolo, Maurizio Gimmarco, Dave Liebman, and Maurizio Giammarco. He now leads three bands, Triodegradabile, Cirko Guerrini and The Collettivo Musicisti Avanzati. He is a sideman in the Visionari band, the Jacopo Martini quartet and the Giorgio Ferrera Quartet. Five CD’s have been published under his name, with the most recent for Emarcy-Universal. He was a part of the Carioca Tours 2008-2009 by Stefano Bollani, where he played with a brazilian group in 40 concerts. Two of these were with the legendary Caetanoveloso. He was invited to participate in the Billy Cobham’s Drum’n Voice project in summer 2007. He played tenor sax at many concerts throughout Italy with special guests such as John Etheridge and Brian Auger. He won two international awards (2000 and 2005) for his compositions for symphonic orchest. In 2007, the city of Pistoia gave him a symphonic piece. He organized a large event that featured the Orchestra Regionale Toscana’s big stars, Petra Magoni, Ginevra di Marco and many soloists. He has also conducted the A.Toscanini Orchestra, Solisti di Perugia and Magnia Grecia orchestras as a conductor. He has toured with many famous pop music artists, including Ivano Fossati and Giorgio Gaber. He teaches Jazz Saxophone, Combo at the G. Verdi public school in Prato, and has given many lectures throughout Australia, Belgium, and Spain. He was invited to Monash University (Melbourne), as a visiting artist, professor and lecturer in September 2009. He has performed all over the globe: Brazil, Australia, Japan (USA), France, Germany), Poland, Holland Holland, Denmark Finland, Russia and many other countries. from http://www.banffcentre.ca