suonisti

Suonisti is the plural form of suonista, an Italian term used to denote people who play musical instruments; the equivalent English term is instrumentalists. The word derives from the verb suonare, meaning to play or to sound. In Italian, suonista emphasizes the activity of playing an instrument; the plural suonisti refers to instrumentalists as a group, including performers who are professionals as well as amateurs. The term is used across genres, from classical music to jazz, pop, and traditional folk.

In classical contexts, suonisti populate orchestras, ensembles, and solo recital programs; in modern music contexts, they appear as members of bands, session musicians, and studio players. Suonisti may specialize in a single instrument or be versatile multi-instrumentalists. Instruments include strings (violin, cello), woodwinds and brass (flute, clarinet, trumpet), percussion, keyboards, and electronic instruments.

In Italian-language discourse, suonisti are distinguished from cantanti (singers) and from compositori (composers) and arrangers; the term foregrounds performance as instrumental rather than vocal, though many musicians perform across multiple roles.