Désirée Del Santo is an Italian flutist and piccolo player, acclaimed for her artistic versatility, expressive musicality, and refined tonal palette.

She earned her Master’s Degree in Flute with highest honors from the P. Mascagni Conservatory in Livorno before furthering her studies with A. Oliva at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Driven by a deep interest for the piccolo, she completed a postgraduate Master’s Degree in Piccolo Performance with highest honors at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan under the guidance of N. Mazzanti.

Her artistic development has been further enriched through participation, from a young age, in numerous international masterclasses and academies with renowned flutists including M. Marasco, A. Manco, P. Taballione, K. Bonelli, and F. Loi.

Désirée has received numerous prestigious international awards, including First Prize at the 2023 Tampere Piccolo Competition, First Prize at the 2023 Grand Prize Virtuoso London (including the Special Prize for a recital in Barcelona), Third Prize at the 2022 S. Gazzelloni International Competition (Piccolo Category), Third Prize at the 2026 Moyse International Flute Competition in Sofia and Third Prize at the 2017 Krakamp Flute Competition. In 2025 she won the Carl D. Hall Piccolo Competition, organized by the Atlanta Flute Club in collaboration with the Flute Center of New York. She has also received several top prizes in major italian competitions (Premio Crescendo in Florence, Synthonia Competition in Rome, Severino Gazzelloni scolarships in Florence, Angelo Persichilli Prize in Rome). In 2024, she was a semifinalist at the National Flute Association Piccolo Artist Competition in San Antonio, Texas.

As an orchestral musician, Désirée regularly performs as principal and second flute and piccolo with orchestras throughout Tuscany.

She has appeared as a guest artist at renowned international festivals, including the International Piccolo Festival, Nordic Piccolo Festival, Virtuosos a l’Escenari in Barcelona, Tampere Flute Days in Budapest, as well as numerous concert series across Italy and abroad.

An active recording artist, Désirée released her debut album, Échos du Temps, with Da Vinci Classics in March 2024. Dedicated to twentieth-century French music for flute andharp, the recording was warmly received by critics and featured on major Italian broadcasters including RAI Radio 3, Radio24, and Vatican Radio. Her second album, Le Regine del Barocco, to be released by EMA Vinci, is scheduled for publication in summer 2026.

“Désirée is an outstanding musician of much promise and I have no doubt that she will be successful in her aspirations to pursue a career as a musician. Her work ethic, sensitivity and quick grasp of direction are supported by her innate musicality and discipline: she has talent, she works hard, and she achieves wonderful results. Her control during musical performances is extraordinary. At the same time, she is still able to communicate deeply and emotionally with the audience” Nicola Mazzanti, former Solo Piccolo of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra