From Mozart to Bach: Playtoy Orchestra performs classical music on toys

From Mozart to Rossini, from Beethoven to Bach, a repertoire of classical music performed on toys: the Playtoy Orchestra continues to bring its original concept to festivals in Italy and abroad.

The band, founded in Vitulano, near Benevento, 25 years ago, will this time perform at the “Pole Musique” in Sion, in Switzerland’s Valais canton, as part of the “Sion Festival”, CE Report quotes ANSA.

After traveling the world over the years with five tours in China, Colombia, South Korea, Oman and Europe, and more recently winning praise from both critics and audiences at the “Zagreb Classic Festival” in the Croatian capital, the band returns to Switzerland for the second time, performing on August 30 and 31.

The key to its success lies in the originality of its musical concept and performance format. The Playtoy Orchestra performs with children’s toy instruments and other toys capable of producing sounds that were never designed to be musical instruments.

Alongside a tiny 30-centimeter plastic drum kit, played by a 1.90-meter-tall drummer, colorful mini keyboards, a small cardboard accordion and a toy bass guitar, the stage features a crocodile, wheels, little pigs, a chicken, mechanical unicorns and an assortment of unusual sound-producing objects never intended to be played. The result gives the band a playful image while allowing younger audiences to become immediately familiar with a repertoire of classical music.

Many television viewers and internet users will remember the band’s appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2023. Italian audiences also regularly see them on Rai programs. In 2024, the group made a pop detour with an appearance at the Sanremo Festival as Bontempi ambassadors, performing as the “Fanta Sanremo Orchestra”. In the days following the Sanremo festivities, the band first traveled to Oman to perform at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, before flying to China for its fourth tour.

Great classical music is the repertoire that best represents the band: a universal musical language that allows it to perform around the world and makes it an “ambassador” of a simple yet revolutionary idea.

“Classical music can be easy and fun, just like a toy,” explains Fabrizio Cusani, founder of the project and director of the band. “The understanding we have developed, first among ourselves as musicians and then with every kind of toy, allows us to perform virtually any genre of music. Within the sonic limitations of each toy, we enjoy ‘playing’ with music, but always with the aim of creating fully live performances that are engaging for audiences.”

The Benevento-based group consists of Cusani, Bruna Orlacchio (toy keyboard and toy piano), Massimiliano Maresta (toy drums), Gianpasquale Cusano (toy percussion), Rocco Calò (Bontempi toy accordion) and Gioele Cerulo (toy bass guitar).

Photo: playtoy-orchestra.com