Choir passion

Not a curriculum vitae, but the synthesis of a passion...

Leaving out the how, when, why ... here it is a constant reminder to the voice and the singing that starts from when I was a child. Where there was singing, I was there. In my family singing was a constant, my mother had a beautiful voice and my father conducted a church choir for pleasure and passion. Singing was a way to get together and cheer the evenings, the walks, the feasts and after dinner.

Among the studies, the friendships, the many musical experiences that I did, as for the choral part, at the first I founded the choir Ergo cantemus, then the vocal group Tavolata polifonica estense. We won four first and two second prizes in national and international competitions and I received the prize of musical criticism, in Gorizia, in 1994 and the prize Chiavi d'argento, in Chiavenna, in 2004.
I founded also Athestis Chorus, a professional choir unique in Italy, alternative to the Opera Theater's choirs and with whom I carried out an intense concert activity until its forced closure (in 2009). Many artists - now in solo singing careers - have made their debut in Athestis Chorus and with Academia de li Musici, then called Athestis Orchestra; we have performed the most beautiful and the most important choral-symphonic works. Athestis Chorus was also requested by many orchestras and conductors and collaborated permanently with the Rai Radio-television National Symphony Orchestra from 1994 to 2004. There were wonderful people and artists, it was a period of great excitement and activity, with many concerts for the main Italian concert societies and many foreign others, recordings, CD, tournèe.

In 2000 I was invited to hold the role of Conductor of the Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, succeeding to Maestro Norbert Balatsch. I turns out to have been the youngest conductor in the five hundred years of history of the Accademia, I couldn't try. I stayed there three years, up to end 2002. Experience excellent but I realized that it was not my way, and despite the many successive invitations by other prestigious Theaters, I preferred to do other experiences, to return to conducting, considering my propensity for more creative and musical activities, and for a freedom of life - both personal and artistic - devoted more to emotions and sentiments, rather than career, success, gain.

I tried to stay away from the choir but there is always a constant call to me, and when there is some beautiful opportunity, I can't back out of it.
I conducted many other choirs, including Estonian Philarmonic Chamber Choir, the Italian Youth Choir from 2003 to 2005, the World Youth Choir in a series of concerts in Belgium in 2005 and in summer 2016, the Norwegian and French National Youth Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the Choir of the Theatre of Poznan, of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, of the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova and choirs of other theaters, in choral symphonic repertoire or opera productions.
From 2014 to 2017 I conducted the Choeur National des Jeunes based in Lyon: fantastic guys, excellent organization, musical and human experience oxygenating. In 2016 at International competition "Florilège vocal de Tours" (France) we won four awards: First Prize in the category of mixed choirs, Grand Prix de la Ville, the Ministry of Culture Prize for the best performance of a piece of contemporary music, Prize for the best conductor.

I like the beauty and purity of the choral sound, I like the strong, upright and honest chorality. I don’t like telephone choirs and this "market" of singers that is ruining the authenticity of amateur choirs. I collaborate on some projects on behalf of Feniarco, ECA-Europa Cantat, IFCM and other Institutions; I hold some masterclasses every now and then, and I don't like to be a member of jury in choral competitions.