Ernesto Tomasini

Ernesto Tomasini (born 15 May 1968 [citation needed], in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 30-year career on the stage.

Tomasini begun his career at 16 on the Italian comedy circuit and, later, in the legitimate theatre. Throughout his teens Ernesto devised comedy sketches and sang songs in smoky clubs and small cabaret spaces in his home town of Palermo. On one instance he caused a riot by performing his "outrageous" show at a conservative political party's celebrations. He kept his cabaret activities secret from his parents; his mother found out the truth about her son's suspicious nights out long after his debut, by reading an article about his shows on the national press.

As his acts became more sophisticated (with original songs co-written by himself) he moved up to exclusive clubs until he landed on the legitimate stage, appearing next to one of Italy's leading stars of the time, Duilio Del Prete, in the national premiere of Franz Xaver Kroetz's Death on Christmas Night. After this he performed in numerous theatre productions, never abandoning his first love: Cabaret (something he continues to do to this day). He was the support act for TV comedian Nino Frassica and performed on the televised (RAI 3) Premio Anna Magnani. For the Scuola di Cabaret TV show, he created comic characters that became household names and in 1991 he was awarded the prize for best comedy act from Sicily.

The following year he moved to the UK where, after graduating at the Arts Educational London School, he made a point of having as varied a career as he could, working as actor/singer on the West End stage (Chicago the Musical), in Off-West End productions (Blind Summit's Mr China's Son) and with experimental theatre companies (Lindsay Kemp). In 2014, after a six-year period dedicated almost exclusively to music, he returned to theatre with three new plays written especially for him: Andrea Cusumano's Petit Cheval Blanc, Roberta Torre's Aida and Il Mutamento's Mamma Schiavona.

As avant-garde comedian and cabaret artist he has performed in theatres, museums, nightclubs and cultural institutes in fourteen countries around the world and has collaborated with artists as diverse as Stephen Montague, Ron Athey, Carlos Motta and with the Resonance Radio Orchestra.

Having made some early experiments in the late '90s with a production called The Other Woman, in 2002 Tomasini started to create (in various capacities) his own shows and first attracted attention with an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival with True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati. Written by Time Out critic Lucy Powell, the show was a sell out hit not only in Edinburgh but also in London for two seasons and on international tours, in three different languages. This was followed by Ernesto's own script for The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood! which has had two London runs in 2006, sponsored by the Arts Council of England. Tomasini's style of performance - an operatic, dark and twisted blend of Italian Cabaret, avant-garde performance art and thought-provoking Vaudeville - has been described "as shocking as it is moving".

For nine years Tomasini has been lending his voice to experimental music projects, becoming an international cult figure. A wide vocal range combined with his melodramatic delivery have interested the press: Frontiers magazine described him as "the most exciting and flamboyant personality to shake up the opera world since Klaus Nomi"and Italian newspaper La Repubblica called him a "prominent figure in avant-garde circuits with his seducing high voice reminiscent of those belonging to evirated singers".
He has sung his repertoire in London venues like the Royal Albert Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, the National Theatre, the Cadogan Hall, the Roundhouse, the London Astoria and Tate Britain. He has performed in some of Europe's most prestigious concert halls, theatres, museums and churches.
On radio he has sung, acted and was interviewed on all the BBC stations, Classic FM, RAI Radio3, Radio Nacional de España, Radio New Zealand and on major stations in France, Germany, Brazil and the US.
Ernesto is singer and songwriter of Almagest!, a band he co-founded with Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo (of cult Italian band Larsen). Since 2007 they have produced three albums and one music video and have performed in arts festivals in London, Portugal, Italy. and Germany (at the Volksbuehne in Berlin, the Natural History Museum in Turin and the Kurt Weill Fest, to name three).
In 2007 he started a partnership with Othon Mataragas (with Marc Almond as frequent collaborator) They feature on the soundtrack of Bruce LaBruce's film: Otto; or, Up With Dead People, they performed at the show of hat designer Nasir Mazhar for the London Fashion Week (an experience that Ernesto repeated on his own the following year). In 2010 they made their West End debut and performed at the National Portrait Gallery. Othon's first album, in which Tomasini sings alongside Almond and David Tibet, was released in 2008 on the Durtro Jnana label. 2011 saw the distribution of their first single and music video together and Othon's second album, Impermanence, in which Tomasini and Almond are joined by Camille O'Sullivan as guest singer, on Cherry Red/SFE. In 2012 the same label published their second single and video. In 2014 Othon released his third album and in it Tomasini sung two dance tracks.
In 2008 Ernesto appeared as special guest singer, alongside Marc Almond and Antony (of Antony & the Johnsons), at the Current 93 concert in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.
A production music track that he recorded with Rolo McGinty of The Woodentops was released in 2010.
In 2011 he created a new noise music project with dj José Macabra, called Trans4Leben, which opened the Drop Dead Festival in Berlin.
In 2012 and 2013 he was special guest of the band Patti Plinko at the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Room.

Other collaborations of note are those with Shackleton, Julia Kent, Adam Donen, Andrew Liles (of Nurse With Wound for whom he has sung at the Sala Apolo in Barcelona, among other international shows and recordings) and the "father of industrial music" Peter Christopherson (aka Sleazy of Coil, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, with whom he performed in Italy in a live soundtrack for Derek Jarman's The Angelic Conversation).

• Black Widow (album, 2007) Beta Lactam-ring Records
• Black Sea (album, 2007) Beta Lactam-ring Records
• When I Leave You (single, 2007) Othon Mataragas
• Canes Venatici (album, 2007) Blossoming Noise
• Otto; or, Up With Dead People (soundtrack album, 2008) Crippled Dick Hot Wax!
• Digital Angel (album, 2008) Durtro Jnana
• The Hunting Dogs of Boötes the Herdsman (album, 2010) Chew-z
• Last Night I Paid To Close My Eyes (single, 2011) Cherry Red/SFE
• Impermanence (album, 2011) Cherry Red/SFE
• Impermanence (single, 2012) Cherry Red/SFE
• Düde (album, 2012) Tin Angel Records
• Messier Objects (album 2013) Tourette Records
• InSonar, L'Enfant et le Ménure (album, 2013) Lizard Records
• Dawn Yet To Come (single, 2014) Cherry Red/SFE
• Pineal (album, 2014) Cherry Red/SFE
• Devotional Songs (album, 2016) Honest Jon

• The LA Italian Revue (variety - 1984, USA)
• The Victoria Series (cabaret - 1988/93, I)
• Support for Nino Frassica (cabaret - 1991, I)
• The Lenny Beige Show at the Regency Rooms (variety - 1998, UK)
• The Amazing Tomasini at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow (cabaret - 2001, UK)
• Stars Fall From Heaven at the Colourscape Festival (performance art - 2006, UK)
• The History of Ecstasy at MADRE Museum, Naples (performance art - 2009, I)
• Tomasini/Macabra Trans4Leben at the MILKandLEAD art gallery, London (performance art - 2011, UK)
• Lascia o raddoppia? (performance art - 2011, UK)
• Alternative Miss Liverpool (cabaret - 2011, UK)
• Franko B's Untouchable (cabaret -2013, UK)
• New Year Celebrations in Piazza Politeama, Palermo (variety - 2015, I)
• Bowie Night at Ace Hotel, London (with Lindsay Kemp, Marc Almond, Holly Johnson. variety - 2016, UK)

• Morte nella notte di Natale (play - 1988, I)
• Ballarò (play - 1989, I)
• Nasci lu iornu (musical - 1993, I)
• Volti Lunari (play - 1994, UK)
• Reunion in Genthin (play - 1995, UK)
• Grand Hotel - The Musical (musical - 1995, UK)
• The Tempest (play - 1995, UK)
• Varietè (dark operetta - 1996/97, UK)
• The Other Woman (compilation musical - 1998/99, UK)
• The Conquering Hero of Seville (play - 1999, UK)
• Mr China's Son (multimedia play with music - 2002, UK)
• True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati (one man musical - 2002-2007, UK + world tour)
• The Englishman Sits in a Caravan at St Osyth/Singing (opera - 2003, UK)
• Cabaret - The Musical (musical - 2003, UK)
• Chicago - The Musical (musical - 2004/05, UK)
• The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood (one man musical - 2005/06, UK)
• Camurrìa! (musical - 2008, UK)
• Petit Cheval Blanc (play - 2013, India)
• Aida (musical - 2014, I)
• Mamma Schiavona (play with music - 2014, I)

• Premio Anna Magnani (RAI 3, TV - 1990, I)
• Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4 - 1998, UK)
• Outlook (BBC World Radio - 2002)
• Thunderpants (Pathè, Film - 2002, UK)
• Walking the Outer Road (Radio New Zealand - 2003, NZ)
• Crowded Skies (BBC2, TV - 2003, UK)
• Dream Team (Sky, TV - 2004, UK)
• The Bottle Factory Outing (BBC Radio 4 - 2005, UK)
• Children of Men (Universal Pictures, Film - 2006, USA)
• Siglo 21 (Radio 3 Nacional de España - 2007, Es)
• Otto; or, Up with Dead People (Film soundtrack - 2008, Ger)
• Stoo Kuinnutu (music video - Reverso - 2009, Ger)
• Othon & Tomasini en vivo a la Bienal de Zamora (Radio Nacional de España - 2009, Es)
• Forget Me Not (Quicksilver Films, Film - 2010, UK)
• Carne cruda (Othon & Tomasini en vivo y entrevista) (Radio Nacional de España - 2010, Es)
• Last Night I Paid To Close My Eyes (music video - Cherry Red/SFE - 2011, UK/Dm)
• Impermanence (music video - Cherry Red/SFE - 2012, UK/Dm)
• Heavenly Voices: The Legacy of Farinelli (documentary - Tico Films - 2013, EU)

• COPA at the Royal Albert Hall (concert - 2001, UK)
• State of the Nation at the Purcell Room (concert - 2002, UK)
• Andrew Liles + Ernesto Tomasini & Nurse With Wound at the Sala Apolo, Barcelona (concert - 2007, Es)
• Othon & Tomasini's First European tour (concert - 2007/08 EU)
• The Angelic Conversation with Peter Christopherson's The Threshold HouseBoys Choir in Turin (concert - 2008, I)
• Current 93 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, with guests Antony, Marc Almond and Ernesto Tomasini (concert - 2008, UK)
• Andrew Liles + Ernesto Tomasini & Nurse With Wound at the Wet Sounds Festival, London (concert - 2008, UK)
• Palumbo/Tomasini's Canes Venatici live at the Auditòrio de Serralves, Porto (concert - 2008, PT)
• London Fashion Week, Nasir Mazhar spring show, London (recital - 2009, UK)
• Ernesto Tomasini sings: Othon, Canes Venatici and Andrew Liles at the PRE Final Fest, Rome (concert - 2009, I)
• Othon & Tomasini at The Queen Elizabeth Hall (The Front Room), London (recital - 2009, UK)
• Othon & Tomasini special guests at Marc Almond's Roundhouse concert, London (concert - 2009, UK)
• Othon & Tomasini in the West End (Leicester Square Theatre), London (concert - 2010, UK)
• Othon & Tomasini at the National Portrait Gallery, London (concert - 2010, UK)
• Palumbo/Tomasini's Canes Venatici live at the Volksbuehne, Berlin (concert - 2010, D)
• Othon & Tomasini at the Teatro Lara, Madrid (concert - 2010, Es)
• Palumbo/Tomasini's Almagest! at the Kampnagel, Hamburg (concert - 2011, D)
• Palumbo/Tomasini's Almagest! at the Natural History Museum, Turin (concert - 2011, I)
• Tomasini/Macabra Trans4Leben at the Drop Dead Festival, Berlin (concert - 2011, D)
• Othon & Tomasini at Chelsea Theatre, Impermanence (concert - 2011 UK)
• Othon & Tomasini Live in London at St Leonard's Church Shoreditch (concert - 2012 UK)
• Almagest! at Kurt Weill Fest (concert - 2013, D)
• Poems After Lorca at the Cadogan Hall, London (concert -2014, UK)
• Pineal at the Garage, London (concert - 2014, UK)
• Deliquium at Electrowerks, London (concert - 2015, UK)
• TG Body Probe at the Coronet, London (concert - 2015, UK)
• Ninja Tunes at St John at Hackney, London (concert - 2015, UK)
• Shackleton/Tomasini at CaixaForum, Madrid and Barcelona (concert - 2015, Es)
• Tomasini Masterclass at RADA, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (recital - 2016, UK)
• Ernesto Tomasini Live, Teatro Biondo, Palermo (recital - 2016, UK)
• Shackleton/Tomasini at Arma17, Moscow (concert - 2016, RU)
• Shackleton/Tomasini at EYE, Amsterdam (concert - 2016, NL)