Mauro Valli was born in Sant’Agata Feltria, the same birthplace as Angelo Berardi. Valli comes from the great school of the legendary cellist Camillo Oblach, the favourite cellist of Toscanini famous for the magic velvet sound of his playing. After winning several competitions (Vittorio Veneto, Turin, Milan) he joined the Orchestra of “Teatro alla Scala” where he played under legendary conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Carlos Kleiber, George Pretre. However his main interests have always been chamber music and baroque music and for this reason he left La Scala to devote himself exclusively to playing and teaching in these areas.