Franco Venturini - Biography by Franco Venturini

FRANCO VENTURINI – BIOGRAPHY Franco Venturini graduated in Italy in Composition, Piano and Electronic Music at the Conservatory of Bologna. Afterwards he got the diploma at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome with I. Fedele and a Master's Degree in composition, theory and research in Paris 8 University. He attended Composition Master Classes in various international contexts, as the Centre Acanthes in Metz, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt and in the university domain in Paris, meeting internationally recognized composers as M. Jarrell, M. Stroppa, T. Murail, B. Furrer, P. Hurel, U. Chin, J. M. López López. As a pianist, he improved his competences in performance, attending Piano Master Classes by N. Starkman, S. Perticaroli, O. Yablonskaja and, mostly, with M. Campanella and the Trio di Trieste, getting the Diploma of Merit in piano and chamber music courses at Accademia Chigiana in Siena and at the International Chamber Music High School of Trio di Trieste. He dedicates himself to the composition of instrumental works and also with use of electronics. He has been performed in various international contexts, as: Biennale Musica in Venice, Milano Musica Festival, Festival MITO in Milan, Festival Traiettorie in Parma, Parco della Musica in Rome, Radio Suisse Romande in Genève, Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Pharos Arts Foundation International Contemporary Music Festival in Cyprus, Festival musikprotokoll in Graz, Leibniz Tempel - Georgengarten in Hannover, Altes Rathaus der Stadt in Leipzig, Festival Mixtur in Barcelona, Musica para el tercer milenio in Madrid, Festivals Suona Italiano and Suona francese in Paris and Strasbourg, Lee Foundation Theater of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, Central Conservatory in Beijing. He was involved in the PRIME project (Paetzold Recorder Investigation for Music with Electronics), promoted by the conservatory of Lausanne. Among the interpreters of his music are internationally recognized musicians as Quartetto Prometeo, Trío Arbós, the ensembles Klangforum Wien, Proxima Centauri, Das Neue Ensemble, Divertimento, l'Imaginaire, FontanaMIX, Icarus, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the conductors J. Deroyer et J.-M. Lavoie. Some of his works and performances were broadcast on radios (Radio France Musique, Radio Österreich 1, RaiRadio3). He gave lectures-concerts on the contemporary music and pianistic language, with particular attention to the “extended techniques”, in Italian and French conservatories and universities. He received commissions by the Biennale Musica of Venice, the foundation Arena di Verona for the composition of an opera for “NovOpera”, an Italian research center on musical theater and by the Universal Exposition 2015 of Milan. He obtained also an artistic residence in the Italian Culture Institute in Paris, for the project “Les promesses de l'art”. As a pianist he has active collaborations with various ensembles, as Soundinitiative and Pulsar, new music ensembles in Paris, and in the Italian FontanaMIX and Icarus ensembles, mainly devoting himself to the interpretation of contemporary repertory, collaborating with composers. He also collaborated with several internationally recognized musicians like M. Pintscher, S. Gervasoni, N. Isherwood, G. Knox, N. De Paz, L. Pfaff, G. Zagnoni, the choreographer L. Veggetti, the ensembles Soundinitiative and FontanaMIX, mainly devoted to the contemporary repertory. He played in concert for various societies and festivals in different countries: Italy (Ravello Concert Society; Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna: Bologna Festival; Biennale Musica in Venice; REC/APERTO Festival in Reggio Emilia; Nuova Consonanza in Rome; Trieste Prima; Villa Romana in Florence; Festival Nuove Musiche in Palermo; theaters: Comunale in Bologna, G. Verdi in Pisa, Politeama and Massimo in Palermo), France (Paris – Salle Cortot; Manifeste IRCAM; Théâtre Adyar; Orléans - Matinées du piano; Strasbourg – L'imaginaire; Festival international de Wissembourg; Annecy Festival Sons d'Automne; Italian Culture Institutes of Paris and Strasbourg), Spain (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Festival Mixtur), Austria (Schönberg Center in Wien, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemasser Musik), Croatia (Biennale Musica of Zagreb), Slovenia (Festival Slowind in Ljubljana), Sweden (Connect Festival – Malmö) . He made a musical tour in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore with the Parisian ensemble Soundinitiative giving concerts in the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, in the Brisbane Festival and in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. Among the prizes in composition, piano and chamber music competitions he won, are The modern recorder project – International Composition Competition 2008 of Musikinstitut Darmstadt, the Leibniz' Harmonien – Internationaler Kompositionswettbewerb in Hannover, t h e 9ème Forum de la Jeune Création Musicale organized by S.I.M.C. (International Society for Contemporary Music) in Paris, the Premio Trio di Trieste – Coral International composition award, the Premio Farnesina sonora for composers by the Federazione CEMAT in Rome (for whom he obtained the “Honor mention”), the PRIX Mention Spéciale A. ROUSSEL and the PRIX SACEM in the 8ème Concours International de piano d’Orléans (member of the Fédération Mondiale des Concours Internationaux de Musique). He was finalist for the Prize of arts San Fedele – Section Music, an international triennial competition for young composers that promoted the publication of three DVDs with some works by the selected composers. He taught piano, musical theory, musical analysis in some schools of music and in the Conservatory of Bologna. He was also pianistic collaborator in theaters, for the “A. Toscanini” Foundation and some conservatories and teacher in the “Scuola dell’Opera Italiana” of the “Teatro comunale di Bologna”. He actually lives in Paris.