Ivan Mancinelli began his musical studies in Percussion Instruments at the N. Piccinni Conservatory in Bari, where he graduated summa cum laude with Mr. Forestiere in 1996. In the same year he was admitted as an ordinary student at the Universität für Musik Mozarteum Salzburg, where he attended the class of Mr. Peter Sadlo and where, in October 2003, he obtained "summa cum laude" his Magister (Masters degree).
He can boast an intense concert activity in both chamber ensembles and orchestras, as well as like a soloist. Ivan Mancinelli has toured Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, United States, Bulgaria, Slovakia, China, and Thailand.
In 1999 he met H. W. Henze in Munich, working on the Maestro's chamber opera "El Cimarrón".
Several performances of the piece followed: in Salzburg (Salzburger Festspieleröffnung, Festival Aspekte), Tübingen (Kammeroper), Monopoli (Conservatory), Hallein (Junge Kultur), Hamburg (NDR), Nürnberg (Theater Nürnberg).
He has played many first performances of composers such as: Stefano Taglietti, Stefan Hakenberg, Agustín Castilla-Ávila, S.E. Panzer, and Balz Trümpy, performing their works at the Teatro civico in Sassari, Sardinia, at the Theater Konstanz, at the Sommertheater Überlingen, at the Festival "Sommer im Altmühltal" in Ingolstadt, at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, at the Romanischer Sommer Köln, at the Festival Mammut Glyphix in Salzburg, as well as at the Festival for Contemporary Music in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.
Since 2003, Ivan Mancinelli is being frequently invited as a guest percussionist by the RAI Symphony Orchestra in Turin.
In the same year his essay "Cello Suites, dal Violoncello alla Marimba", (Cello Suites - from the Violoncello to the Marimba) has been published by the Italian Edizioni Pugliesi - Martina Franca.
In 2006 his solo CD with Bach's 6 Suites for Cello, transcribed for Marimba, was published by Bongiovanni Records Bologna.
In 2007, Hans Werner Henze's El Cimarron was released by the Label Wergo.
Ivan Mancinelli plays, among others, on instruments from Gandharva Loka.
Since November 2005, Ivan Mancinelli is teaching at the Conservatory in Sassari, Sardinia. He plays exclusively on Adams Musical Instruments