Think of Italy, and you think of food, wine, cheese, and football. For Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, music is added to the list. Growing up in Atessa, in Southeastern Italy, it was part of the family. “The first instrument I learned was the accordion. It was passed through the family, and it is such an Italian instrument,” he shares over a phone call from Nariman Point. Today, he will perform the first of his two concerts, A New Dolce Vita, to mark his debut tour of Mumbai.

“It has been a busy year. I have hardly had time to take a break. I just landed yesterday, and today we had rehearsals,” Pietrodarchi says, as we catch him between the preparations. He will be joined alongside the Symphony Orchestra of India — a fantastic orchestra, he adds — as he takes on compositions that are definitive of Italian music. “We wanted to create a new repertoire for the accordion and bandeon. We chose these compositions because of their focus on Italian music,” he points out.

Mario Pietrodarchi performs with the bandoneon at the Night Serenades Festival