
FABRIZIO FESTA - composer, conductor
Fabrizio Festa (1960)
began his piano musical studies in classical
repertoire. Very early he devoted his attention
to jazz, studying piano, composition and
arrangement with some of the best Italian
jazz player (as Enrico Pieranunzi, Franco
D'Andrea, Giancarlo Gazzani) and with the
pianist and composer Mal Waldron. With his
jazz band, Festa Group, Fabrizio Festa toured
in Italy and in Europe, and the band has
been invited twice to the International
Jazz Festival of Montreux.
In 2000 the band made is debut in USA with
a great success. Festa Group recorded two
LP and two CD: mostly of the compositions
are by Fabrizio Festa himself.
He studied at the Conservatorio "G.B.
Martini" in Bologna as a composer and
in the class of jazz orchestra arrangement.
Since 1989 Fabrizio Festa devotes
his musical work mostly to composition (chamber
and symphonic music, ballet, opera, radiodrama),
although he composed and composes for cinema,
TV movies and for theatre shows, and in
1996 he played again piano in a his
new jazz band.
In 1998 he made his debut as conductor.
His works has been performed in Italy, USA
(New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Washington, etc.), Germany, Russia, Holland,
French, Swedish, Lebanon, Turkey, Azerbaijan
and Latin America. Some of the most important
Italian theatre (i.e., Teatro dell'Opera
- Roma, Teatro Massimo - Palermo, Teatro
Comunale - Bologna, Teatro Valli - Reggio
Emilia) commissioned him symphonic music,
ballet music and opera.
Main most recent and relevant works are
the following:
1995, Teatro dell’Opera - Rome, "Ad
immagine e somiglianza", for soprano,
choir and orchestra.
1996, Teatro Comunale - Modena, Teatro
Comunale - Ferrara, Teatro Comunale - Bologna,
"Il volo", opera. Teatro Politeama
- Symphonic Season Teatro Massimo, Palermo,
"Suite in Do", for flute and strings
orchestra (soloist Andrea Griminelli). The
Italian Radio (RAI) produced Fabrizio Festa's
first radiodrama ("Favole in musica",
five episodes), followed in 1997 by a new
radiodrama RAI productions ("Poesia
e Musica", five episodes).
1997 by commission of Rostov on Don
Festival (Russia) "La Via Lattea"
("Milky Way"), concerto for piano
and orchestra. Teatro Comunale - Bologna,
"Hero and Leander", opera based
on a poem by Christopher Marlowe. Viterbo
Festival, "Suite in Do" for violin
and string orchestra. Ente musicale - Nuoro,
"Nulla", melologo for two narrators
and ensemble. New Radio production, titled
"Poesia e musica".
1998, Teatro Comunale - Ferrara,
"Suite in Fa", for Bb clarinet
and string orchestra. It has been published
a new CD: "Radiofavole", which
collects the first RAI radiodrama productions.
Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce: production
and tour of "Laudes", a cantata
for narrator, soprano and orchestra;
1999, "Un angelo alla luce del
giorno" ("An angel in the light
of the day"), concert for flute and
orchestra (performed by Andrea Griminelli
as soloist) and commissioned by Orchestra
Sinfonica di Lecce;
2000, "Enjoy", strings
quartet commissioned by Brodsky Quartet
in order to Beethoven Opus 18 International
Project. "Sandaliotim", for narrator,
jazz quartet and orchestra (text by Fabrizio
Festa), commissioned by Ente Musicale di
Nuoro for celebrating millennium in Sardinia.
"Tanit" for two narrators, electric
guitar and keyboards produced by Sagra Malatestiana
(Rimini, Italy).
Furthermore in 2000 Fabrizio Festa has realized
his new CD, ‘The Vast Conspiracy of Birds’.
Jazz guitar player and composer Al Di
Meola to orchestrate and conduct (leading
Toronto Symphony Orchestra) for his next
recording have invited him. Telarc released
the CD in October 2000.
In 2001, Festa’s works have debut
also in China (Beijing) and Iran. Moreover,
new pieces will be performed in Turkey,
Greece and Russia. Fabrizio Festa has been
invited to take part to 2001 edition of
the Focus Festival at Juilliard School of
Music (NYC), in which has been the USA debut
of his first string quartet, titled "Sleepless
traveller". He has been also invited
by the Brooklyn College of Music to take
part at the Brooklyn Conservatory Composers
Forum. In 2001 he has been commissioned
to compose a symphonic homage to Verdi (by
Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce).
In 2002, "Enjoy" for saxophone
quartet will debut at St. Petersburg Festival,
and a new trio "Miles to run"
(for flute, violin and piano) will be performed
at Carnegie Hall (NYC).
The Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce has commissioned
him a work for wind quintet and large orchestra
(Kite Songs) and the Orchestra Sinfonica
Abruzzese invited him to compose a new score
for narrator and orchestra (Il lungo pranzo
di Natale, freely inspired to T: Wilder
drama).
In 2003 have been premiered new pieces:
Bach is cruising through interstellar space
for piano (March, USA – Kansas City, Sanantonio
and Washington), Libera Toccata Quarta for
Marimba (July, Switzerland, Lugano), Preludio
per il mare d’inverno for organ (August,
Germany, Berlin), Pegasus for flute and
strings (October, Mexico, Cervantino Festival),
Americana (September, Teatro Comunale, Bologna).
Some chamber pieces will be performed all
over the world, from Beijing to New Delhi
to Latin America. In summer Fabrizio Festa
brought to debut his new ensemble, Auranova
Quartet, with a special program titled
Utopia. This program has been realized with
the collaboration of many composers form
different countries (as John Psathas
form New Zealand, Tomi Raisänen
from Finland, Shaun Bracey form Great
Britain).
In 2004 Martha Mooke has performed
in NYC his Urban Dances (for five strings
electric viola and CD), dedicated to her.
Bologna Opera Theater has commissioned to
Fabrizio Festa Three Divertissements for
orchestra (premiered in March). Moreover,
Thelema Trio debutted Omnia Tetramuta
(in Ghent, Belgium, at the end of March)
and Madrid Soloists brought to first performance
Miles for Five (Avellino, Italy, still end
of March, the same piece has been performed
in Spain). In Copenhagen (Danmark) soprano
Anne Aaen and Sirenkvartetten performed
two pieces for voice and string quartet
(April). Fabrizio Festa, with Aedòn
Trio, has been invited at Festival Encuentros
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in August. Here
he presented his new work, titled: New Lands,
No Borders, lyrics by Michael Hall.
The same work has been presented at BBK
Festival at Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
(Spain). With Trio Aedòn,
Fabrizio Festa toured in South America.
At Teatro Colòn, in Buenos
Aires, he presented "New Lands,
No Borders", a new piece commissioned
by Festival Encuentros. The same
piece has been performed too at BBK Festival,
at Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain),
and will be presented again in 2005
in Italy and Europe.
In 2005 have be premiered
new works. Between them, in January, at
Copenhagen (Denmark), soprano Anne
Aaen have sung the first performance
of My Icon (for soprano and string quartet,
lyrics by Michael Hall) at the Danish
Radio Concert Hall, in a program including
more pieces of him. Then, in April, at Zagreb
International Biennale of Music debuted
a new chamber piece, Sirene. In September
debuted "Clandestino Songs"
for piano and percussions and "Voglio
fare il gentiluomo" for accordion
and harp at Rovereto International Mozart
Festival.
Main 2006 debuts
are: "The path beyond the rocks"
for orchestra at Cheyenne (Wyoming,
USA) commissioned and performed by Cheyenne
Symphony Orchestra, Voi che sapete
for quartet (Mendrisio - Switzerland),
Closed skies and urban dreams for clarinet
and strings (Milano - Italy), Nomads
for orchestra (Grosseto - Italy), Variazioni
a memoria (for cello an piano), commissioned
by Festival Internazionale Mozart a Rovereto,
Windows for cello solo (Budapest,
Ungary) and a Variazioni su un tema improprio
for orchestra commissioned by Fondazione
Orchestra Sinfonica Sicliana - (Palermo
- Italy). With Trio Aedòn Fabrizio
Festa has been invited in October at Cervantino
Festival (Mexico).
In 2007 will be premiered many new
works, as Clouds and Birds for alto
sax and piano (as John Harle as interpreter),
and Brordsky Quartet commissioned
to Fabrizio Festa a new score.
Fabrizio Festa is the artistic director
of the International
Composer Competition "2 Agosto"
in Bologna. He is appointed as artistic
consultant for contemporary music program
at Bologna Teatro Comunale (Opera
Thetare). He is artistic consultant at Musica
Insieme Foundation (Bologna) at
artistic director of Toscana Musica e
Arte Foundation (Arezzo).
Fabrizio Festa teaches arrangement and orchestration
at Bologna Conservatory. He teaches
Music and Dance and he is assistant at the
History of Modern and Contemporary Theater
Chair at Music, Theater, Fine Arts Department
of the University of Bologna.
Fabrizio Festa collaborates as music critic
with "La
Repubblica". He his the editor
of Musica Insieme magazine and a
member of the National Association of
Music Critics.
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