Pradella received diplomas at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice in Choral Music and Conducting under Marco Gemmani, Maestro di Cappella of St. Mark’s Basilica, and in Prepolyphony (Gregorian Chant and Medieval Music) under Lanfranco Menga, and completed his academic studies with a Second Level (Post-Graduate) Degree in Choral Music and Conducting, with top marks and ‘cum laude’. Committed to vocal research according to the Functional Method of Voice by Gisela Rohmert, he graduated in Applied Vocal Physiology at the Lichtenberger Institut für angewandte Stimmphysiologie in Lichtenberg (Germany) and obtained the licence to teach. He also graduated in Theology with top marks at the Faculty of Theology of Northern Italy in Padua.
He is a soloist at the Cappella of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, with which he performs in concerts and recordings (RivoAlto), as well as in the liturgical service. Besides, he performed gregorian chant and medieval music also with Menga and the Schola Gregoriana di Venezia in diverse concerts and recordings (Tactus). He has served as “cantor” (first singer) in the latin liturgy at the Basilica of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
In 2006 he made his début as a choir conductor in W. A. Mozart’s Missa Solemnis K 337 with the Choir and Orchestra of Accademia Bizantina (Stefano Montanari, conductor), in Niccolò Jommelli’s oratorio La Betulia liberata (Ottavio Dantone, conductor), and in Claudio Monteverdi’s Missa “In illo tempore”. He then conducted the Soloists of the Cappella Marciana of Venice, the Conservatory of Venice’s Ensemble of the Early Music Laboratory, and Creator Ensemble.
In 2007 he also founded the VeniDilecteMi Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble, primarily focusing on the Renaissance polyphonic repertoire and Venetian early Baroque music, beginning with the transcription and study of the earliest manuscripts and prints. Ever since the ensemble has performed mainly in Venice, but also in Rome, Udine, Forlì and other Italian cities; its concert for the 2009 Historical Regatta (San Salvador Church, Venice) has been broadcast by the satellite network TV2000.
