16 maY 2026   7.30 pm

Naomi Berrill Trio

I have not seen a Butterfly around here

MUSIC BY BERRIL

Blue 
So it goes
Caoineadh 
Balance*
To Olga*
The Garden* 

other pieces to be finalised

*new composition

_

Naomi Berrill Trio
Naomi Berrill  voice and cello 
Lorenzo Pellegrini  guitar, voice and synth
Andrea Beninati  drums and cello

ph: Edoardo de Lille

I Have Not Seen a Butterfly Around Here presents a musical journey inspired by the collection of texts of the same name, a moving collection of poems and drawings created by children detained in the Terezín concentration camp, near Prague, during the Second World War, before their deportation to Auschwitz. 

The project, with new music by Naomi Berrill, is intended as an act of memory and testimony, but also a bridge to the present; some of the new compositions are dedicated to people affected by the dramatic reality of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, expanding the vision to all current conflicts.

In the work, which intertwines poetry and music, the texts and poems, written by children in terrible conditions, surprise us with their hope and their burning desire for beauty, a vital energy that only the very young can see and find in every situation.

Naomi Berrill - Naomi Berrill is an Irish cellist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer, who has been based in Florence for several years. After completing classical studies in Scotland, Switzerland and Italy, she began experimenting with using the instrument as an accompaniment to the voice, composing and arranging new pieces that also feature improvisation. Her versatility has led her to collaborate with classical (Danusha Waskiewicz, Giovanni Sollima, Mario Brunello), jazz (Vincent Courtois, Ernst Reijseger, Alessandro Lanzoni), contemporary, baroque and folk musicians. She also collaborates regularly with choreographer Virgilio Sieni’s Company and with various companies in the world of design and craftsmanship. In 2020, she was a leading performer at the Cellissimo Festival during the 'Galway-European Capital of Culture', performing the world premiere of ‘Fragments’ by Bill Whelan. In the 2024 season of the same festival, she composed a work for cello and orchestra that opened the festival. In 2020 she founded the DragonFly project with Danusha Waskiewicz, a duo for viola, cello and two voices that debuted at the Trame Sonore festival in Mantua in 2021. Naomi Berrill also directs "High Notes", a musical festival in the Apuan Alps, now in its 14^th season. Up to now she has released four albums; Inish (Sonzogno/Egea Music, 2023), a work written for trio, recounting the beauty and hardship of life on the islands off the west coast of Ireland; Suite Dreams (Warner Music, 2020), 3 suites from different musical worlds, dedicated to the world of migration; To the Sky (Sonzogno/Egea Music, 2017), ten original pieces for voice, cello, guitar and piano, presented at the Spoleto Festival, at the Macerata Opera Festival, at the "Suoni delle Dolomiti" (Sounds of the Dolomites), at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence for "Uffizi live", live at the Radio Popolare Auditorium and at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana; From the Ground (Lampi, 2014), reissued in Japan by Nature Bliss: A Journey from Purcell to Nick Drake for voice and cello, which was Record of the Week for Farenheit on Rai Radio 3. Naomi has also performed at the Jazz in Time (Berchidda) at the invitation of Paolo Fresu, at the Cello Biennale in Amsterdam, at the Triennale in Milan, the Venice Biennale, the Antiruggine Festival in Castelfranco by Mario Brunello, the Oriente Occidente Festival in Rovereto, the Orestiadi in Gibellina, the Amici della Musica in Mestre, the Amici della Musica in Florence, the Suoni delle Dolomiti, the Casa del Jazz in Rome, Palazzo Pitti, The Irish Center New York, Sesc Theatre Sao Paolo, and Jazzatlan Mexico City.

Naomi Berrill Trio The Naomi Berrill Trio was born in 2023 to give voice, form and breath to the compositions of Irish cellist and singer, Naomi Berrill’s fourth album, Inish. The project is developing as a natural extension of Naomi’s artistic journey, which for years has been engaged in an exploration of sound that intertwines voice, cello and guitar in an intimate, refined and deeply original narrative. The trio is composed of: Naomi Berrill – voice, cello, guitar; Lorenzo Pellegrini – voice, guitar, synth (also producer of the album, Inish); Andrea Beninati – cello, synth, drums. The meeting between Naomi and Lorenzo gave rise to the album’s compositional phase, while Andrea’s entry allowed the songs to be translated into a richer and more immersive live dimension, expanding the ensemble’s timbral and dynamic possibilities. The trio combines transversal musical experiences and an artisan approach to the arrangement, which retains the delicacy of Naomi’s folk roots while introducing new electronic and jazz influences. Since their first sold-out performance in Florence in October 2023 at the A Jazz Supreme festival, the trio has rapidly gained attention in prestigious classical and jazz contexts. Among their most significant performances are Beethovenfest (Bonn), Spike Cello Festival (Dublin), Neimënster Jazz Series (Luxembourg), Trame Sonore (Mantua), La Casa del Jazz (Rome), BFlat Jazz Club (Cagliari), and Live at La Stanza della Musica on Rai Radio 3 (February 2024). The ensemble has been selected to participate in the next season of the Cello Biennale Amsterdam 2026, one of most eminent international events dedicated to contemporary cello. Through a combination of original writing, improvisation and sound research, the Naomi Berrill Trio explores new territories of musical expression, conveying a poetic and modern vision of the song form.