Artchipel Orchestra

Artchipel Orchestra was founded in Milan in 2010 by drummer, composer and conductor Ferdinando Faraò. The ensemble brings the resources of a large jazz orchestra to original compositions and new arrangements of music associated with the Canterbury scene, including works by Soft Machine, Mike Westbrook, Alan Gowen, Fred Frith and Dave Stewart.

Its projects combine detailed orchestral writing with improvisation and have involved collaborators such as Phil Miller, Chris Cutler, Keith Tippett, Julie Tippetts, Mike and Kate Westbrook, Karl Berger and Adam Rudolph. Artchipel was voted Best Ensemble in the Musica Jazz Top Jazz critics’ poll in 2012, 2017, 2022 and 2025. The Da Vinci Jazz release Plays Soft Machine explores the music of Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt through arrangements for the orchestra.