What must necessarily be in a resume? Maybe I should start from my bedroom window in Albania, where I could glimpse the sea and I could hear the ships’ sirens fading away in the distance.
I was five when I swapped that window for the small porthole of a music stand and I imitated those sirens with the sound of my first cello.
I left home with my cello. I chose the “Luigi Cherubini” music academy in Florence, where I graduated with honours.
I had one window onto my score, without sea or distractions, so I had to do it right.
To make it brief, I should only say that I attended several Master Classes with Maestros F. Maggio Ormezowsky, M. Rostropovich, and L. Harrel. I performed with chamber ensembles in the most important Italian concert halls and theatres, and in order to transform memories into places, I can recall the Teatro Regio in Parma, the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, the Teatro Carlo Fenice in Genoa, the Auditorium Parco della musica in Rome, the Teatro Romano in Verona, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the Teatro Verdi in Florence.
My musical geography widened with contemporary music ensembles.
Tours abroad are among the most indelible memories in a musician’s career. The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Barbican Centre in London, the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, the Koncerthuset in Copenaghen, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Theatre Sebastopol in Lille, the Cité des Congrès in Nantes, the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Chan Center in Vancouver (Canada), the Place des Arts in Montreal (Canada), the Town Hall in New York City, the Arts Dairy in Boulder (Stati Uniti) are some of the theatres whose brochures I still keep with me.
Since 2015, I’ve devoted myself to musical theatre, for which I compose original scores and I set up shows with Stefano Benni, Alessandro Haber, Davide Riondino, Dario Vergassola, Violante Placido.
In my drawer, I proudly keep a sheet of music dedicated to me by the great composer Silvano Bussotti.
And I often go back to that house with a window on the sea, where ships are always ready to sail. Now my cello is wiser, and I have no more time to imitate sirens. I know this is not important in the economy of a resume, neither are my cats, but well, it’s too late to backtrack!
