Kalison

Kalison (“kali=beautiful” in Greek) is unquestionably the most dynamic Italian firm in quality brass instrument production.

Battista Benicchio (1891-1953) started this friendly family firm in Milan in 1928¹, having entered the business in 1916 in the enormous Roth-Bottali² wind-instrument factory, which in its heyday employed no less than 1000 workers!

Benicchio’s workshop with its four or five people was more modest and his vocation was firmly for craftsmanship. Production reached around twenty instruments a month, covering all brass, and was mainly aimed at the famous town bands then flourishing throughout Italy.

During the second world war there was not much work; this did not cramp Battista Benicchio’s style, however, for he made a series of miniature but playable wind instruments which he named “Kalison” to distinguish them from the usual models. These miniatures were very successful and kept the business afloat during this difficult period.

After his father’s death in 1953 Angelo Benicchio carried on the business, choosing the name Kalison as a brand name for all the models produced.

Angelo, more interested in contact with professional musicians than his father had been, surrounded himself with the most celebrated horn players in Italy and, as a new departure, produced various models of double horn in collaboration with the prestigious Allegri (1st horn at La Scala, Milan, from 1920 to 1950), then with Argeo Lusardi (1st horn in the same orchestra). Other renowned soloists gave encouragement to the dynamic Milan maker by playing his instruments: Domenico Ceccarossi, (a soloist acclaimed all over the world, former solo horn at the RAI Symphony Orchestra in Rome); Salvatore Accardi (1st horn at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome); Luciano Giuliani (1st horn at the RAI Symphony); and many others.

In 1982 Angelo Benicchio followed the same path with the tuba as he had done with the horn. Daryl Smith, the American tuba player settled in Milan, was to guide this development to fruition.

While still producing the full range of brass — family tradition would allow nothing less! — Kalison has managed to gain a foothold in the modern professional world.

The firm moved into spacious new premises in 1987. Assisted by his wife and surrounded by a friendly team of a dozen people, Angelo Benicchio forges ahead with confidence and enthusiasm. Giuseppe Crott, the virtuoso solo horn at the RAI Symphony Orchestra in Milan (the tester and artistic adviser), and other professionals keep a watchful eye on how the work develops.