Lecturer
Musical analysis
Biography
Qualifications in Italy: master’s degrees in composition, in choral music and choir conducting. Qualifications from PIMS: master's degree in Gregorian chant, licentiate in sacred music.
He is the author of vocal and instrumental compositions performed in Europe and the USA. Since 1987, his work as a composer has been complemented by choir conducting, in concert and liturgical contexts, ranging from Gregorian chant to contemporary music. Some of his works and concerts have been broadcast on RAI 1, RAI 3, RAI 5, Radio Vaticana and the Austrian broadcaster ORF.
Frequently invited to give masterclasses and lectures, he has held a chair at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome since 2006 and has been vice-president of the Italian Santa Cecilia Association since 2024, which has commissioned and published several of his compositions for liturgy.
Research Interests
Modern and contemporary music: its relationship with the sacred
Methods of musical analysis useful for teaching
Vocal interpretation of Gregorian chant and medieval sacred repertoires
Concerts, Masterclasses, Conferences, Recordings (selected)
Concerts in which his compositions were performed
17 April 1991 – Rome, Japanese Cultural Institute, Noluit consolari, for soprano and tuba (Michiko Hirayama, Giancarlo Schiaffini)
2 September 1995 – Città di Castello, selection from Dodici Preludi for string quartet (Ensemble L. IX)
24 August 1996 – Arezzo, Teatro Petrarca, Nuages, based on texts by Titus Lucretius Carus (with the participation of tenor Delfo Menicucci)
15 October 1998 – Cullowhee (North Carolina) / 20 October 1998 – Tigerville (South Carolina), Canticum Deuteronomii, for trumpet and piano (Ivano Ascari, Derek J. Parson)
11 February 2006 – Welcome Concert for the Olympic Nations in Turin, Kuruka kuruka, for violin and piano (Alessandra and Massimiliano Génot)
25 April 2009 – Saint-Pierre Cathedral in Saint-Flour (France), O salutaris hostia and Exsultandi et laetandi, for mixed a cappella choir (PIMS Polyphonic Choir, Walter Marzilli)
2 April 2011 – Rome, Church of S. Apollinare, Simon Ioannis, for mixed a cappella choir and organ (PIMS Polyphonic Choir, Walter Marzilli; Marco Di Lenola, organ)
22 April 2013 – Rome, PIMS Academic Hall, Sine tuo numine… Introduction and Passaglia, for organ (Marialuisa Balza)
15 June 2015 – Rome, PIMS Academic Hall, Variations on a theme by Franz Schubert, for piano (Claudio Trovajoli)
30 September 2016 – Florence Cathedral, Music for the sacred drama Agnosce, Fili, misericordiam Patris (project by PIMS composers), for soloists, choir, brass, organ and reciting voices (soloists and choir of the Florence Cathedral Music Chapel; Brass Quintet of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Daniele Dori, organ, Marialuisa Balza, Elisa Ferrara, Nicola Tangari, reciting voices; Michele Manganelli, conductor)
6 October 2020 – Rome, Giacinto Scelsi House Museum (Isabella Scelsi Foundation), Noluit consolari, for mezzo-soprano and tuba (Virginia Guidi, Giancarlo Schiaffini)
31 March 2022 – Rome, PIMS Academic Hall, 7th Edition of the Concertando Festival, Ballata degli incontri possibili. Parte Prima: Orizzonte sognato, orizzonte negato..., for piano, violin, viola and cello (Claudio Trovajoli, Daniel Rowland, Raffaele Mallozzi, Jozef Lupták)
5 October 2023 – Colorado Springs, Shove Chapel Colorado College, I cieli nascosti. Squarci sull’Apocalisse, for trumpet and organ (Ivano Ascari, Leonardo Carrieri)
15 March 2024 – Florence Cathedral, Music for the Via Crucis (project by PIMS composers), for soloists, choir, orchestral ensemble, organ and reciting voices (soloists, choir and Pueri cantores of the Florence Cathedral Music Chapel; Art Ensemble of the Fiesole School of Music; Daniele Dori, organ; Marialuisa Balza and Nicola Tangari, reciting voices; Michele Manganell, conductor)
16 May 2025 – Rome, Church of St Apollinaris, Music for Corona stellarum duodecim, musical meditation by PIMS composers inspired by the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, for soloists, mixed choir, organ, orchestra and reciting voices (Maria Grazie Schiavo and Marco Severin, soloists; PIMS Polyphonic Choir; Marialuisa Balza, organ; Giacomo Balduzzi and Nicola Tangari, narrators; Walter Marzilli, conductor)
Concerts as choir conductor (selection)
18 June 1995 – Rome, Church of St. Jerome of the Croats, Concert for Peace in the Balkans (Schola Gregoriana Romana)
57 Sundays of the Holy Year 2000, Rome, Gregorian chant introductions by the Schola Gregoriana Romana at the Jubilee Concerts on the Day of the Lord (Central Committee for the Great Jubilee). Of particular note are:
22 December 1999 – Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs (among the performers at the concert were Cecilia Gasdia and Renato Bruson)
19 March 2000 – Basilica of St. John Lateran (Pontifical Chapel ‘Sistina’)
30 April 2000 – Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs (concert performers included José Carreras)
5 November 2000, Church of the Gesù, Concert in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize winners on the occasion of their Second World Summit
19 March 2007 – Rome, Parco della Musica, Sala Sinopoli, Concert for soloists, choir and orchestra (Choir and Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory)
23, 24, 25 December 2009 – Beijing, Multifunctional Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Three concerts with different programmes (Choir of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory)
20 January 2011 – Rome, Parco della Musica, Sala Sinopoli, Concert for choir and orchestra (Chamber Choir and Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, with the participation of the Dalai Lama's official Master Singer, Ven. Lama Tashi)
14 April 2015 – Rome, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Dialogues in the Cathedral, presided over and coordinated by Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini, Vicar of the Pope (with performances by the Choir of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory)
13 April 2019 – Rome, Tribute to Opera in honour of Maestro Franco Zeffirelli and in the presence of the President of the Senate (Choir of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory)
22 December 2019 – Rome, Christmas Concert at the Chamber of Deputies, broadcast live on RAI 5 (Choir of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory)
6 June 2025 – Rome, Church of S. Maria dei Miracoli, Musical Meditation for the Jubilee (Chamber Choir and Gregorian Choir of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music
Alongside his concert activities, he has been intensely involved in liturgical music, particularly as director of the Schola Gregoriana Romana (annual cycles of sung Masses from 1987 to 2001) and the Pantheon Choir, where he served as choirmaster until December 1994.
In addition to Eucharistic celebrations broadcast live on RAI 1 (Catacombs of Priscilla, Basilica of Santa Prassede), there were several priestly and diaconal ordinations conferred by Cardinal Virgilio Noè, former Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
Masterclasses
11–15 August 2008 – Guadalajara, I Curso Nacional de Dirección Coral (Episcopal Department of Liturgical Music), masterclass with final concert at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
From 2008 to 2025, every summer for one week – Abbey of Vallombrosa (Florence), Gregorian chant course with final concert
Conferences
26 November 2009 – PIMS, Robert Schumann: Davidsblündertänze. 18 Charakterstücke (with Antonio Sardi de Letto on piano)
7 February 2011 – PIMS, La Berliner Messe di Arvo Pärt
28 May 2011 – PIMS Academic Hall, Laudatio delivered on the occasion of the Honorary Doctorate in Composition awarded to Arvo Pärt
30 April 2012 – PIMS, Robert Schumann: Études Symphoniques op. 13, analytical reflections in memory of a dear colleague who passed away prematurely
22 September 2015 – Rome, Andersen Museum, The score as a drawing. Dialogues between music and visual arts
23 March 2022 – Assisi, National Conference of the Italian Association of Saint Cecilia, The schola cantorum at the service of the Liturgy
16 March 2023 – Assisi, National Conference of the Italian Association of Saint Cecilia, Towards the Jubilee 2025: what music and what proposals?
Recordings
FONS MUSICAE – 2012 – 151.2 Tristis est anima mea, per coro maschile a cappella (Ensemble della Cappella Sistina “Octoclaves”, Walter Marzilli)
TERRE SOMMERSE – 2020 Piccola Elegia per Antonio, per pianoforte (Orietta Caianiello)
EMA VINCI – 2021 – 70250 Noluit consolari per mezzosoprano e tuba (Virginia Guidi, Giancarlo Schiaffini)
All’interno della collana “Nuove musiche per tromba” (“New Music for Trumpet Collection”), a cura di Ivano Ascari:
CD 1 – 2001 Canticum Deuteronomii, per tromba e pianoforte
(Ivano Ascari, Corrado Ruzza)
CD 5 – 2004 Beurceuse qui se dévoile, per flicorno soprano e vibrafono
(Ivano Ascari, Roberto Pangrazzi)
CD 12 – 2025 I cieli nascosti. Squarci sull’Apocalisse, per tromba e organo
(Ivano Ascari, Leonardo Carrieri)