Duomo

Links

Axel Tenner and Daniel Belardinelli met in 2014 while operating their individual studios from inside Music & Motion Productions—a media composer facility in Venice, California—where they both were individually composing music for film and media. The two were quick to creatively connect and became friends. After Axel moved back to his home country of Germany in 2016, and Daniel stayed in the states, the duo decided to form Duomo as a remote composer collaboration project together with a specialization and focus on using contemporary classical quartet arrangements and chamber music mixed with electronic sound design and hybrid elements into accessible pop-adjacent orchestral compositions. With the vision set, the two talented men, 5775 miles apart, started making music together under the Duomo name. It was in January of 2020 that Duomo caught their big break as Netflix’s hit show and cultural sensation Bridgerton used their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” in a steamy and climatic romantic scene between two main characters. Virtually overnight, the song ... [ more ] Axel Tenner and Daniel Belardinelli met in 2014 while operating their individual studios from inside Music & Motion Productions—a media composer facility in Venice, California—where they both were individually composing music for film and media. The two were quick to creatively connect and became friends.

After Axel moved back to his home country of Germany in 2016, and Daniel stayed in the states, the duo decided to form Duomo as a remote composer collaboration project together with a specialization and focus on using contemporary classical quartet arrangements and chamber music mixed with electronic sound design and hybrid elements into accessible pop-adjacent orchestral compositions. With the vision set, the two talented men, 5775 miles apart, started making music together under the Duomo name.

It was in January of 2020 that Duomo caught their big break as Netflix’s hit show and cultural sensation Bridgerton used their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” in a steamy and climatic romantic scene between two main characters. Virtually overnight, the song connected with Bridgerton and Taylor Swift fans all over the world causing the song to reach #1 on the US Spotify Viral Charts.

Over 75 Million total streams, and over 350,000 total TikTok sound uses later, the string quartet rendition of the song has been used in countless weddings and Victorian themed parties around the world. “Wildest Dreams” catapulted Duomo into the pop classical world as Duomo is now mentioned in the same category as en vogue contemporary composers such as Vitamin String Quartet, Kris Bowers, 2Cellos, and others. Eventually the song was pressed to vinyl by Capitol Records for their Bridgerton Covers: From The Netflix Original Series EP, which eventually hit No. 1 on the Classical Albums charts.

Duomo, which literally translates to “Italian cathedral,” have since gone on to retain their newfound fans with an emotionally evocative sound that puts an unforgettable string-forward spin on hit pop songs such as 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P,” Billie Eilish’s “everything i wanted,” Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” and Alanis Morriesette’s “You Oughta Know”— the later of which was famously used in season two of Bridgerton. Morriesette herself performed a stirring cover of her vocals over Duomo’s arrangement of her chart-topping tune in a beautifully produced promotional music video for the Netflix series.

However, in 2022, Daniel Belardinelli tragically and suddenly passed away. A horrifying and shocking loss for Tenner and Duomo fans worldwide. “It’s tough to lose someone you’ve been working with for so long. We started out as friends and were brothers basically. That’s what we always said. It was very unexpected for everyone,” says Tenner.

In an extremely touching tribute to Belardinelli, Tenner took the last few stems and musical ideas that Daniel sent him before his death and brought them all to life in beautiful Duomo fashion in Duomo’s latest EP release Signals, which was released in March of 2023 on Position Music.

“Signals is the last one we did together so of course I wanted to honor him.” says Tenner.

Tenner goes on to describe the unique hybrid sound of Signals: “The classical instrumentation strings, classic piano are the fabric and emotion and melo-dramatic side of it, and the electronics bring the future and the pulse that you hopefully get to experience from the synthesizers.”

Like the hopefulness and optimism that their music brings to sonic life, Duomo’s brand and music will continue on in remembrance of Belardinelli and beyond. As of 2023, Tenner has since been joined by award-winning Spanish composer Tomàs Peire Serrate. Serrate also knew Belardinelli, and with Tenner, both have vowed to continue to carry on Belardinelli’s legacy together through the now well known Duomo pseudonym. Tenner and Satare may be the “new” Duomo duo, but the musical energy and ambition remains a unified and cohesive entity for eternity. [ less ]