135. Students of Rovigo Conservatory

November 2 & 3, 2024 @7pm | Piano Italiano: Italian Pianist/Composers from the Rovigo Conservatory

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at
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135.

Salon Concerts at Klavierhaus
Jed Distler, artistic director

Conservatory of Music "Francesco Venezze" in Rovigo
Program coordinators: Roberto Prosseda & Federico Nicoletta, professors of piano

present

Piano Italiano:
Italian Pianist/Composers from the Rovigo Conservatory

Francesco Mencarini
Alessio Masi
Alessio Santolini Raggi
Nicola Elias Rigato

November 2 & 3, 2024 @7pm

Live at Klavierhaus
790 11th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

$20 suggested donation

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Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 @7pm

Alessandro Felici (1742-1772)
Sei Sonate da Cimbalo
IV. Sonata in C minor

Francesco Mencarini (b. 2000)
Polaroid, Op. 41 (2024) (New York Premier)
I. Act 0.
II. Dreaming a Death Waltz.
III. Music.wav (for 9 fingers).
IV. 2 AM… Not sleeping at all (for 9 fingers).

Haru no Yuki (Mishima), Op. 42 (2024)

Fantasia sopra il C. F. di “Lascia ch’io pianga” (Handel), Op. 24 (2018 – 2019 / rev. 2020)

Francesco Mencarini

~ Intermission ~

Ludovico Giustini (1685-1743)
Sonata in G minor, Op. 1 No. 1 

Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Fantasia in Sol

Alessio Masi
Sonata del sottosuolo

Alessio Masi

Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 @7pm

Alessio Santolini Raggi (b. 2002)
Dyagram & Proyection (2024) (World Premiere)
1. White on White 
2. Into Convergence 
3. The Bells of St. Petersburg 
4. Palette 
5. The Immigration of Butterflies 
6. The Birdcage 
7. In the Light Hour 
8. Sidetrack 
9. A Shade of Grey 
10. Black on Black

Alessio Santolini Raggi

~ Intermission ~

Nicola Elias Rigato (b. 1991)
Elusion Piano Suite (2021)
I. Crypt
II. The Wanderer
III. Memories

After The Mists (2024)
I. Moderato

Wonder drowns (2022)
Have Mercy (2022)
Discovery (2021)

Nicola Elias Rigato

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Francesco Mencarini was born on December 26, 2000, in Siena and currently lives in Loro Ciuffenna. He graduated with honors from the Francesco Petrarca Music High School in Arezzo, where he won prizes for his original compositions. He participated in Master Classes at Florence’s Luigi Cheubini Conservatory with Fabrizio Ottaviucci (piano improvisation), Gustavo Romero (interpretation of Beethoven sonatas), Enrico Baiano (interpretation of Scarlatti sonatas), Cristophe Giovaninetti (chamber music), and Paolo Oreni (literature for Organ and Piano – improvisation on both instruments). The Conservatory also awarded Mencarini a scholarship for collaborative pianists. As a recitalist, Mencarini is fond of mixing original and contemporary works with traditional repertoire. More recently, he participated in the 32nd International Piano Concert "Città di Albenga," where he earned third prize in the "Composition-Open Adults" category for his work "Fantasia su 'Lascia ch'io Pianga", Op.24.

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Born in Sicily, Alessio Masi is a young upcoming pianist, versatile multi-instrumentalist  and composer, acclaimed for his pianistic eloquence and outstanding interpretative creativity. As a pianist, he is equally at home with core repertoire as with lesser-known works by often overlooked composers, such as Lodovico Giustini, whose 12 sonatas published in Florence in 1732 were the first ever pieces written for piano music; and Fanny Mendelssohn. Masi has performed extensively as a soloist in important Italian venues such as the Sale Apollinee in La Fenice, Salone d'Onore della Triennale di Milano, the Teatro Niccolini in Florence, and the Villa Florio-Salamone in Palermo. Masi is currently sponsored by Hermès Italia, and has been awarded prizes at numerous national and international competitions, including First Prize at the ‘Andrea Baldi’ XII International Competition (2023), and First absolute prize in the ‘Hermès per i Talenti’ (2022), receiving a three-year scholarship and a special invitation to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, as guest pianist. Masi currently studies at the Conservatorio L. Cherubini, in Florence with Alessandra Ammara, and with Roberto Prosseda at the Accademia Musica Felix, in Prato. Masi is also active in other musical genres where he plays the Piano, the Guitar, the Synth and the Keyboards, and has collaborated in a wide variety of projects ranging from Noise Rock, Post-Rock, and Progressive Rock, to Doom Metal, Pop, Soul, Funk and Jazz. His debut solo devoted to works of Fanny Mendelssohn CD will be issued by Brilliant Classics.

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Born in 2002, Alessio Santolini Raggi’s eclectic and multi-faceted musical background encompasses a thorough grounding in the classical and post-Romantic piano traditions, with extensive experience in the cinematic world, from sound design and mixing to composing original film scores. His live and recorded projects aim to fuse these two realms. In his recitals, Alessio is noted for programming traditional repertoire alongside his own compositions and those of other contemporary composers. He has had the privilege of learning from numerous mentors, including Andrea Lucchesini, Alexander Romanovsky, Boris Berman, Boris Petrushansky, Bruno Monsaingeon, Enrica Ciccarelli, Francesco Libetta, Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Jed Distler, John Rink, Konstantin Scherbakov, Marcello Nardis, Matti Raekallio, and William Grant Naboré. At present, he is studying with Roberto Prosseda, Inna Faliks, and Marco Biscarini. Alessio currently lives in Los Angeles, where he continues his studies at UCLA.

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Born in 1991, pianist, composer, and researcher Nicola Elias Rigato graduated with honors and special mention in Piano, Composition, and Chamber Music from the Conservatories of Rovigo, Castelfranco Veneto and Milan. He serves as the representative for Italy at FUNDUS, bringing new music to major contemporary art museums, and is the founder of the international virtual choir We-Choir for the promotion of contemporary music . His first Piano Concerto, 'In the Absence of Gods and Demons,' is published by Universal Edition and was performed in Krakow by the Dafo Quartet with Erato Alakiozidou. His "Left Alone" was video-performed by 11 internationally acclaimed pianists during the 2020 lockdown and the score was published by Terentyev Publishing. Other piano works are published in three albums under Futura Modulans label, the score is published by Universal Edition. He actively plays as percussionist of the group Psycodrummers in international festivals also collaborating with important Italian singers.