English CV - Luca Rinaldo Villani

Training
Luca Rinaldo Villani was born in Varese ( northern Italy) in 1963, and lives in Rome. He is a graduate from the Santa Cecilia Conservatoire and from the Rome University "La Sapienza" where he obtained his History of Music Degree with the dissertation "Guitar & Voice from 1760 to 1830" . In the Rome Conservatory he has achieved in 1986 his first "Diploma in Classical Guitar", lasting in Italy ten academic years, and later in 2007 his "Laurea di secondo livello", a new top Master degree in Guitar, gained "with honors" presenting and performing his personal transcription of the 6th Bach cello suite for guitar.He has attended and performed in many masterclasses all over Europe with the main international guitarists, from Josè Tomas to Oscar Ghiglia, from Betho Davezac to Angelo Gilardino, from Carlos Bonell to Julian Bream. His first teacher was Roberto Chiarini since Luca's childhood and then was Bruno Battisti D'Amario, famous Italian concertist and teacher in the Conservatories of Florence and Rome, under whom Luca studied many years from 1979 to 1990 regularly and then untill 2007 for his Laurea in Guitar.

Competitions, Awards and Concerts
After winning several awards in some National Competitions, Luca has started with classical recitals in most of Italian centres and regions (Rome, Florence, Siene, Naple, Bari, Chieti, Catanzaro, Sicily...) , both in challenging programmes and premiering new works for guitar in important theatres and under invitation of serious music societies.In 1984 already, just 21, he started to performe also abroad in Germany and Switzerland as solist and in ensembles.He has had collaborations with many leading artists, from pianist Ryoko Tajika to oboist Franco Pardelli, from flutist Peter Skladany to soprano Katia Martina, from violinist Davis Hume to his string quartet, playing with the Edinburgh Quartet, the Rubio Quartet, Philomusica of Edinburgh, the ORL Orchestra of Rome.He has toured extensively in the years all european countries, from Austria to Greece, from Spain to Hungary, very often in the UK, and in 1994 he had occasion to play in San Francisco and New York. In the last years he has been invited by important festivals, (like Crete, Darmstadt, Szeged, Edinburgh), by several Italian Cultural Institutes ( Budapest, London, Edinburgh, Pècs, Wien) and by many international societes of music and culture (Latin-America Society of Rome, Embassy of Spain, Embassy of Russia, Muvezetek Haza of Hungary, Rumanian Academy) also to support charity trusts (like "Lega del filo d'oro" and Gruppo India) in no-profit concerts.His repertoire spanning five centuries of guitar music is adaptable to any audience and circumstances.Colin Cooper, english guitar expert and reviewer, wrote about Luca's first CD :" He plays with a genuine sense of drama". The famous newspaper The Scotsman reviews praised several times his recital at Edinburgh Festival as "Wonderful to hear" and "Beyond the technique".In April 2007 he has been playing the Villa-Lobos guitar concerto with the Orchestra of Rome and Lazio, under the batoon of David Geringas (pupil of Mistislav Rostropovich) with a great success of audience in the main Rome new Auditorium "Sala Sinopoli".More recently recitals include an Homage to Roman Vlad, the famous Rumanian-Italian composer, given in the Romanian Academy in Rome and consequently an acclaimed recital in the main Park of Bucharest on the occasion of the European Anniversary (9th May 2009). An extensive interview to the composer and musicologist Roman Vlad edited by Luca is appeared in April 2010 issue of Il Fronimo, the main classical italian guitar magazine.
In 2011 again in Edinburgh and Wien Luca celebrated the Italy 150th Anniversary with a new recital and CD especially conceived with all Italian Music spanning three centuries.
The new 2012 edition includes and Homage to Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) on his 20th anniversary along music by Albeniz, Bach, Granados and Sor. In 2014 Luca turned his attention to the Segovia Archive new issues, playing and recording rare Sonatas by Desderi and Moreno-Torroba, and the classical 7 string guitar Russian composer Andrei Sychra.
In 2016 with soprano Isabel Panè Luca presented a wonderful programme spanning five centuries for Guitar & Voice,  supported by IIC Edinburgh, Italian Consulate and Embassy, in the persons of the Edinburgh Consul Perrotta and the London Ambassador Terracciano in an exciting tour of the Outer Hebrides, playing in Stronoway and Portree.
The summer 2017 consists of an extended tour of Romania, Englad and Scotland with double programme : the new Duo Guitarcello Duo with acoomplished cellist Sinziana Bica (music by Albéniz, Gnattali, Piazzolla and Villa-Lobos) and a new recial Homage to Segovia on his 30th anniversary, titled Guitarsolos, (music by Albèniz, Frescobaldi, Ponce, Rodrigo, Segovia, Sor, Turina e Villa-Lobos).

Recordings, research, compositions and teaching
CDS to his credit are more than a dozen, including both the best international repetoire and some rare original guitar music discovered during Luca's personal researches and travels, plus his own challenging transcriptions from Bach, Bartok, Strawinskij,  and original pieces. A detailed list is in the section "Compact Discs".
Luca's first Cd "Suites and Variations"(1995) was praised by Colin Cooper on Classical Guitar Magazine Last CD "My Neverending Love labyrinth" includes to large Sonatas by Ettore Desderi and Federico Moreno-Torroba, plus a world prèmiere by the Russian Andrei Sychra.
Composer of his own pieces, Luca has written several solos, one Guitar Quartet and recently his 12 Variations to complete the Ottorino Respighi Variations for guitar. Luca Rinaldo Villani enjoys also teaching amd tutoring (some of his pupils are oustading in International Competitions), and holds a position in the Music Department of the Italian State Middle School.