MusicaRiva is happy to welcome Radio Maffei podcasts, created for MusicaRivaFestival 2025, and give visibility to the talented students of the eponymous high school.

RADIOMAFFEI

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RadioMaffei was born within the walls of the Andrea Maffei High School in Riva del Garda, Trentino, during the 2024/2025 school year. Led by teachers Maria Chiara Betta and Marco Cassisa, a dozen students launched the school’s own radio station, with the aim of giving students a voice — allowing them to tell international stories in a clear and accessible way. But RadioMaffei is not only about news: it is also a space for passions, for music and for literature. On the occasion of MusicaRivaFestival 2025, the students had the chance to put their journalistic skills into practice by interviewing some of the festival’s leading figures.

ANDREA DIONISI

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Andrea Dionisi is a young drummer currently studying and working at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. In his interview with Giulia Romeo for RadioMaffei, he recalls how his love for music was born and how he first began with the Riva Town Band at the age of eight. He speaks about moving from a rock band with a friend in his first year at the Maffei High School in Riva del Garda, to Berklee in Boston, and how an audition taken almost “by accident” changed his life forever. Over the years, numerous encounters and choices have led him to win the Italian National Arts Award twice, a prestigious prize for conservatories and academies. Andrea is not only passionate about powerful musical influences that go beyond superficiality, but also a remarkable person who knows what advice to give young people trying to live through music.

MARKUS STENZ

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Markus Stenz has held several high-profile positions and is undoubtedly one of the most prominent figures of the recently concluded MusicaRiva Festival, in which he took part for the very first time this year. In the short interview given to Giulia Romeo, journalist for RadioMaffei, he reflects on the atmosphere he found in Riva del Garda and his esteem for the local musicians. He explains the importance of music for young people, something he knows well, having launched numerous youth projects and educational initiatives such as Experiment Klassik, 3. Akt and the live recording project GO live. To the younger generation aspiring to take the stage and love music as he does, he offers deeply personal advice — words that could be applied in any field.

CIARA MOSER

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Born in Dublin, raised in Austria and now based in Boston, Ciara Moser is a talented visually impaired bass player who has explored a wide range of musical styles and genres over the years: from bands and orchestras to film projects and ensembles, both live and in the studio. She is an artist who has travelled the world, and journalist Giulia Romeo of RadioMaffei asked her what it feels like to arrive in a small reality such as Riva del Garda, compared to Boston. In the podcast, Ciara also discusses the importance of her debut album Blind. So What?, which shares its name with the podcast she has hosted since March 2019, where she talks about daily life as a blind person. A crucial part of her journey is her work as a teacher at Berklee College of Music in the Bass Department, where she also earned her master’s degree in music pedagogy. She explains how teaching is also learning, together with her students, and closes with heartfelt advice for the new generation of musicians.

CHRISTELLE PASCAL

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Christelle Pascal is a singer who does not give answers when she sings: her rich, intense and profoundly expressive voice already carries reassurance. In this podcast, unfortunately, we cannot hear her singing, but she still satisfies our curiosity. Elia Tagliente engages her in a fascinating and profound dialogue, uncovering the extraordinary journey that brought Christelle back to Italy for her second MusicaRiva Festival. Born and raised in New York with Haitian roots, she weaves together the elegance of jazz, the depth of R&B and the pulsating rhythm of her heritage. She says she was “born singing”, inspired by contemporary icons of R&B and many other genres. She also recalls how her experience as a recent graduate from Berklee College of Music — working with artists such as Doja Cat and Earth, Wind & Fire — changed her life. Her music is a mirror reflecting self-exploration, uncertainty and personal growth. And this podcast itself becomes a mirror through which we discover Christelle Pascal’s inner world.