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Choreographer Of The Month : Giorgio Madia

"Don Juan" Staatsballet Berlin (Komische Oper Berlin)

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Composer Of The Month (most probably Of The Century): Raffaele Grimaldi

by Olja Dakich for  Classi©fication / LolaWho

Italian composer Raffaele Grimaldi chought my ear during the Gaudeamus Musikweek 2011, Amsterdam (probably the Mecca for the young composers and new tendencies in classical music) where he was nominated for his composition „Tesla“ , which composer claims as a little musicial-performing opera, covering last few minutes of life of Nikola Tesla, famous inventor and physicist.

Raffaele is composer, pianist, conductor and musicologist and in his early thirties he has already more than impressive biography.

We talk to him in Villa Medici in Rome , where he is a fellow composer at the French Academy. What a perfect set for this almost renaissance young man.

about the composer

Raffaele graduated in Piano with Carmen Romano and Composition with Lucia Ronchetti at the Conservatory of music “G. Martucci” in Salerno with highest honors, and graduated with the highest honors, at the Master’s courses (high improvement in Composition) of Ivan Fedele at the National Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome.

He has obtained prizes in National and International Competitions, among others : Valentino Bucchi, International competition (Roma) 2005; Progetto giovani compositori, (Forlì - Milano) 2007, (chairman Giacomo Manzoni); International composition competition Toru Takemitsu 2009, chairman Helmut Lachenmann (Tokyo - Japan);   FORUM 2010 - MUSIQUE ET VIDÉO D'ART - Montreal (Canada); "Reading Session" of The  45 International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt; Gaudeamus Music Week 2011, Amsterdam (The Netherland); Wiener Konzerthaus's International composing competition 2012 - «Towards the Next 100 Years» (Vienna - Austria), 34th Frederic Mompou International Award (Barcelona, Spain).

His compositions have been performed in Europe (Italy, France, The Netherland, Spain, England, Albany, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Greece), USA (New York, Boston, Des Moines), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (Moscow), Australia (Melbourne) and broadcasted by  NRN-FM Japanese National Radio, Ö1 - Radio Österreich 1, Sveriges Radio P2, Radio-Canada, Taukay Radio, VPRO RADIO, Concertzender Radio, RADIO 4 eigentijds (Holland) Radio Rai International and Rai Radio 3 (Italy), and performed by Tokyo Philarmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Lorraine, Orchestra del Conservatorio “G.Martucci” di Salerno, chamber ensembles like the Ensemble Recherche, Neue Vocal Solisten of Stuttgart, Ensemble Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Studio for new music Moscow, VocaalLAB Amsterdam, Ensemble Algoritmo, Prometeo string quartet, Ictus&Nadar Ensemble, Amsterdam Collage Ensemble, Ensemble Transmission, FontanaMix Ensemble, Aleph ensemble, Monesis ensemble, Interensemble, soloists like Mario Caroli, Valentina Coladonato, Simone Beneventi, Ann Cravero, Matteo Cesari, Francesco Filidei, Erik Carlson, Franz Josef Hauser and directed by prestigious conductors like Zsolt Nagy, Tetsuji Honna, Marco Angius, Jacques Mercier, Flavio Emilio Scogna, Frank Wörner, Philippe Nahon.

In his professional activity he has held lectures and workshops about his music at some important institutions like the University of Montreal, University of Turin, the Schloss Solitude Akademie of Stuttgart, the Tschaikovsky conservatory of Moscow, the conservatory of Utrecht.

Beside his concert activity as a pianist Raffaele is also co-founder of the blog www.nuthing.eu where he writes about contemporay music.

He also cultivates the painting, poetry and the philosophy with particular interest.

 Grimaldi´s  works are published by Raitrade (Rome - Italy) and Suvini-Zerboni (Milan - Italy).

interview  

november villa medici rome

perfect set for this almost renaissance young man

ME: What does it mean  to be „an artist in residence“  and what are your experiences? 

Raffaele Grimaldi: To be an artist in residence means that you can have the possibility to focus on your work in a special and new environment. Actually I’m fellow at the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, an historical and magic place. The benefit here is that it takes you out of your usual routine and away from your everyday stress. Besides, here I have the possibility to meet and to work with other artists of different disciplines.

Are you coming from a musical family?

Yes, my father is also musician, and in my family to learn music is a strong tradition since a long time.

When did you decide to become composer and why?

When I was 13-14 years old I started to think that I could write my own pieces instead to learn music composed by others! (laugh)

What is your first published piece?

„Gegenscheine“ for ensemble and „Creatura temporale“  for orchestra, published at the same time.

How would you describe your style?

„Style“  is a very reductive concept for an artist. If we hide behind this word our work could become boring  and perhaps useless. Above all, I prefer to work on Ideas, gestures, figures …  And on the fact that they can be in continuous change. 

What are the most important influences on your work? 

My idea of sound is deeply influenced by composers like Lachenmann and Romitelli. In my music I try to (re)create “electronic sounds” with acoustic instruments.

Where do you find inspiration?

My music is strongly autobiographic. Everything I write is deeply influenced by my life. The „technique“ comes after.

You won many national and international prizes for composition. Of which importance are the music competitions for young , upcoming composer?

I would like to say that the only important thing is to write good music.  To win the competition is just the consequence of it. 

 You were the finalist @ Gaudeamus Music Week 2011 (Amsterdam) with the piece Tesla - Azione Drammaturgica In Tre Scene (2009) for 4 voices and percussions (with Diego Giordano)  . Why Tesla ?

I am very interested in developing projects that could melt together music and science. Nikola Tesla was an important contributor to the birth of commercial electricity and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism.

I was very interested to discover his work and his mysterious life. Because of his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, he was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist by many late in his life. Tesla never put much focus on his finances and died with little funds at the age of 86, alone in the two room hotel suite in which he lived, in New York City.

The piece I composed with Diego Giordano is a musical-performing opera where, through a synthesis of historical and imaginative elements, we tell  the last life minutes of Tesla.

 How does the day of the contemporary composer look a like?

 It is a life of daily sacrifice. My way of working is very messy, I like to avoid any kind of  scheduled things. And above all, I work at night!

 What do you listen in your free time?

 I like to discover always something new, for that I am musically omnivorous and curious.  I can listen music going from rock to the contemporary, passing through electronic or traditional music.

To find out more about the composer visit

www.raffaelegrimaldi.com

www.nuthing.eu 

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Song Of The Day:

Lou Doillon - I.C.U.

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Tchaikovsky Valse Sentimentale, Op. 51, No. 6

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You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars.

Robin Williams 1951-2014

August Rush, 2007

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Alec: “oL, why does ur Home look like Hotel apartment ?” Me: “Because I wanted to feel at Home”

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"Here He Comes Now" ft. #KevinPouzou , Video/Styling : Me #OljaDakich

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"Une femme est une femme" Jean-Luc Godard (1961)