Watford, England, United Kingdom
I am a trained musicologist, music librarian and pianist, with + 15-year of experience in research, music archive work, teaching of music history, and a track record as an entrepreneur (conceiving, organising, leading music/cultural events, courses and masterclasses, and building up institutional connections and networks). I am the founder and joint director of a Music Association aimed to promote musical culture through public events and learning initiatives, with the idea to enhance the importance of making music together and sharing different cultural experiences. I particularly care about diversity and inclusion, believing in the power of cultural synergy. Creativity and enthusiasm are a peculiarity of my personality and, combined with my side interest in play-writing and culture in general, represent an added value to my professional career. My longstanding work in music archives led me to interesting discoveries which developed in publications, contributing to historic knowledge. My last discovery at the RCM library, is a hundred letters addressed to the Italian 19th century composer Giuseppe Martucci, published in 2019 (Olschki). As a music scholar, I regularly take part in international conferences, publish articles and book chapters, edit books, and have significant experience in lecturing and occasionally broadcasting. I also contributed programme notes for relevant Italian music Institutions such as Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Accademia Filarmonica di Verona and Campus Internazionale di Musica, BBC Proms and BBC SSO. As a freelance journalist, I have written for international music magazines, publishing interviews with world-renowned musicians (including Ennio Morricone and Charles Rosen), now collected in a book, reviewed during the Rai Radio 3 broadcast Qui comincia (22 April 2015). I am the author of two plays (monologues), staged internationally: The Enchanted Garden, inspired by Maurice Ravel Ma Mere Loy (in which I take part playing in a piano duet); Maria Callas. The Black Pearl, which had its premiere in Singapore (2014) at the Esplanade Theatre and then staged in different UK theatres, including The Grange Park Opera. It was rated five stars play in 2018 by the UK online Theatre Magazine “Play To See”.
Teach survey courses in the general history of Western music, covering major periods, styles, and cultural contexts from antiquity to the present. Deliver specialized courses on the history of jazz and popular music, examining their origins, stylistic developments, key figures, and socio-cultural impact. Emphasize critical listening, historical analysis, and rigorous scholarly engagement. Supervise student theses and participate in examination panels and the assessment of student work.
The Royal College of Music is rated Global n. 1 Conservatoire for performing arts. The RCM Library is a renowned source of scores, books, manuscripts and recordings. It holds internationally significant items such as the manuscripts of Mozart’s C minor Piano Concerto K491, Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Chopin’s Minute Waltz. I am in charge of special collections (early printed books and concert programmes) and assisting students and scholars in their research. Achievements • cataloguing and organization of a collection of more than a thousand printed books from the 17th century to modern times (treatises, biographies, pamphlets, music theory and composition etc.), including the following Collections: Joan Chissell; Sourindro Mohun Tagore Collection; Who’s Who; PhD Thesis; British and International Yearbook. • conceiving, text writing & image sourcing of an online exhibition: “C. Hubert H. Parry: Musician and literary man”; • Transcription of musicians’ diaries and correspondence: Lionel Bradley’s Diaries; George Grove’s letters; letters from various 19th century Italian composers, also published, with an introductory essay, by the Italian publisher Leo Olschki 2019). • Dealing with Library material donation: receiving and organising the material.
To deliver teaching over a range of modules within an established programme; undertake student tutoring and support; carry out a number of additional activities in support of the academic work of the school (organizing conferences and seminars); collaborate in the review and development of the School’s programmes; to undertake assessment of students’ work and give feedback; collaboration with Professional bodies or relevant industry contacts to develop student or educational opportunities.
Responsible for financial management (fundraising, institutional relationships with governors and other national and international institutions and universities); Music archive curator (manuscripts, autograph documents, main library); organizer of public music and academic events (conferences, exhibitions, book launches, concerts). Involved in managing and recruiting cataloguing teams engaged to work at some of the most important Italian Archives (including Monte Cassino Abbey, where manuscripts by Bellini, Verdi, Donizetti, Pergolesi, Cimarosa, Scarlatti, and many others are held).
To undertake a range of research on subject areas, collections, and archives for exhibitions and music events, contributing to realizing content and design.