Simone Bertolotti

Born in Cremona in 1980, music has always been part of Simone Bertolotti’s life. He started studying piano at the age of 4 and at 14 he enrolled in the composition course at the Lucio Campiani Conservatory in Mantua, under the guidance of Maestro Paolo Perezzani.

In the same period he developed an interest in keyboards and programming and began collaborating with several bands, which allowed him to turn his great passion into a real profession. To deepen his knowledge of the instrument and of harmony he studied, among others, with Maestros Massimo Colombo and Fabio Nuzzolese.

2002 is the year of his professional breakthrough. Simone is 21 and is chosen as pianist, keyboard player and programmer for the tour of Gianluca Grignani’s successful album UGUALI E DIVERSI. The tour continues in 2003 in theatres and during the same year Grignani involves Simone in the making of the two new tracks included in the collection SUCCO DI VITA. Also in 2003 he is contacted by Ron for the album LE VOCI DEL MONDO, spending several months at the historic Angelo Studio in Garlasco. Thanks to those sessions he realises how much he loves working in the studio. His interest in production and arrangement keeps growing.

The following year he joins Ron’s LE VOCI DEL MONDO tour, where he is also asked to take care of the band’s musical direction — a truly formative period, as it brings him closer to the world of Italian songwriting, something that would prove very useful in the years to come. On 8 July of the same year he is musical director of a very important charity concert for ALS (INSIEME PER LA SPERANZA), featuring Artists such as Lucio Dalla, Biagio Antonacci, Loredana Bertè, Luca Carboni, Ron and Mario Lavezzi. From that moment on, Simone’s intense live activity takes him on tour with many Artists around the world, very often as musical director as well.

In 2005 he begins working with Niccolò Agliardi and for the first time Simone puts himself on the line not only as a producer, but also as a songwriter. That collaboration gives birth to the album DA CASA A CASA. Following this important work, major collaborations arise — both as author and producer — with Artists of the calibre of Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini and Ivano Fossati for the EP LAST MINUTE.

In 2006 the time is right to found WhiteStudio in Cremona, the recording studio that allows Simone to take his first steps as a producer. In that magical place numerous collaborations are born, leading him to work with Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, Elisa, Giusy Ferreri, Francesco Renga, Belinda, Francesca Michielin, Roby & Francesco Facchinetti, Virginio, Alessandro Casillo, L’Aura, Loredana Bertè, Vasco Rossi, Valerio Scanu, Niccolò Agliardi, Paolo Meneguzzi, Fabio Curto, Ivan Graziani, Tony Maiello and many others. In 2008 MTV contacts him to produce the show ULTRASOUNDS at WhiteStudio, as musical producer.

That same year he is called as musical director for Giusy Ferreri’s first tour, launched after the release of the album GAETANA, which includes the two singles NON TI SCORDAR MAI DI ME and NOVEMBRE. In 2009, besides being credited as author of the song NESSUNO ESCLUSO on Eros Ramazzotti’s album ALI & RADICI, he receives Elisa’s call to take part in the recording of her album HEART.

In 2010 she involves him in the winter and summer tour as pianist, keyboard player and guitarist. In the summer of the same year Simone collaborates with Elisa on the album IVY and during the winter he produces part of Giusy Ferreri’s album IL MIO UNIVERSO. In 2011 he follows Elisa’s long IVY theatre tour, where he plays — besides piano, Rhodes and acoustic guitar — the most unlikely instruments (glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, harmonium and Mellotron).

Also in 2011 Laura Pausini calls him to produce two songs written together with her, included in the album INEDITO, released on 11/11/2011. In 2012 DECCA, the historic American label, releases Elisa’s STEPPIN’ ON WATER, a collection including some of the tracks Simone had worked on in previous years.

The following year Laura Pausini decides to involve Simone in a collection celebrating twenty years of the international pop star’s career (20 THE GREATEST HITS). The album features three new songs and many new versions of her classic hits. Simone then leaves with Laura for the world tour of the album, which gives him the chance to play on the most prestigious stages around the world for almost two years.

In the same period Simone starts working on L’Aura’s concept album IL CONTRARIO DELL’AMORE, a very ambitious project involving more than 30 musicians as well as the impressive BUDAPEST ART ORCHESTRA, which takes him to the legendary ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS in NEW YORK to mix the album with Michael Brauer, sound engineer for Paul McCartney, Coldplay, John Mayer and Aretha Franklin, among others. The album is released in September 2017.

The world tour with Pausini, however wonderful, keeps him away from the studio for a long time and leads him to step back from live work for a while to devote himself to production full time. To do so, he plans to build a much larger studio in Milan. In 2015 he is called to work with Roby and Francesco Facchinetti as a “coach” on the TV show THE VOICE, an edition won by their own team with Fabio Curto. During the same year he composes, together with L’Aura, the music of the song LO SAPEVI PRIMA TU, included in Laura Pausini’s album SIMILI. Also in 2015 the soundtrack of the successful Rai series BRACCIALETTI ROSSI 2 is released, featuring two tracks produced by Simone. The collaboration continues in 2016 for the next season of the series.

In 2016 work begins on WhiteStudio 2.0 in Milan, a huge 800 sqm space with a 100 sqm live room and several control rooms, two of them in Dolby Atmos, allowing him to work without limits on any kind of production. The studio has been fully operational since December 2016 and Simone is its owner and studio manager. Over the years it has become a reference point for Artists in Milan, where recording, mixing and mastering all live under the same roof: the original core has been joined by the new VibeRoom and VibeRoom LOFT — a multi-purpose space also designed for songwriting, photo shoots and video content production — and by the WhiteStudio Mastering service.

In 2017 he composes, together with Niccolò Agliardi, part of the soundtrack of the film NOVE LUNE E MEZZA, directed by Michela Andreozzi, produced by Paco Cinematografica and distributed by Vision Distribution. The single HO CAMBIATO I PIANI, sung by Arisa and produced by Simone Bertolotti, is taken from that soundtrack.

Since April 2018 he has been a Pop/Rock ensemble teacher at the GIUSEPPE VERDI CONSERVATORY in Milan.

Also in 2018 comes the unexpected call to play KEYBOARDS and HAMMOND at one of the most prestigious musical events of all time: Q85 (Quincy Jones 85th Birthday Celebration at Umbria Jazz Festival 2018). Simone Bertolotti and Rocco Zifarelli are the only Italian musicians in the rhythm section of the Big Band conducted by John Clayton and by Quincy Jones himself. Alongside them, Nathan East on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Hans Vroomans (longtime pianist of the Metropole Orkest) on piano. Guests included Dee Dee Bridgewater, Patti Austin, Take 6, Ivan Lins, Noa, Paolo Fresu, Alfredo Rodriguez & Pedrito Martinez. The concert took place on 13 July 2018 at the Arena Santa Giuliana in Perugia.

From 2020 to today he has taken part in numerous editions of the SANREMO FESTIVAL as orchestra conductor, songwriter and producer.

In 2021 he works with John Metcalfe on the Italian version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

In 2024 he contributes to the soundtrack of the film THE CAGE, producing a very intense version of GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN performed by L’Aura.

Below is a list of some of the Artists Simone has worked with live, on TV and in the recording studio: Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, Elisa, Quincy Jones, Marco Mengoni, cmqmartina, chiamamifaro, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, Il Volo, Giusy Ferreri, Francesco Renga, Mahmood, Ermal Meta, Ultimo, Belinda, Fabrizio Moro, Paola Turci, P.F.M., Ron, Francesca Michielin, Elodie, Arisa, Bugo, Morgan, Giuliano Sangiorgi, Roby Facchinetti, Francesco Facchinetti, Gianluca Grignani, Riki, Thomas, Rosa Chemical, Stabber, L’Aura, La Sad, Lucio Dalla, Loredana Bertè, Vasco Rossi, Nek, Max Pezzali, Le Vibrazioni, Leo Gassmann, Bambole Di Pezza, Dear Jack, D’Argen D’amico, Ivan Graziani, GnuQuartet, svegliaginevra, La Municipàl, John Metcalfe, Gloria Estefan, Kylie Minogue, Antony And The Johnsons, Robin Thicke, Nate James, Burak Yeter and many more.