Luca Rinaldo Villani - Chitarra Classica

Training
Luca 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 Laurea in Lettere with the dissertation "Guitar & Voice from 1760 to 1830" .
In the Conservatory he has achieved in 1986 his first "Diploma in Classical Guitar", lasting in Italy ten academic years, and in 2007 his "Laurea di secondo livello", a Master degree in Guitar , the new top degree in Italy, gained "with honors" presenting and performing his personal transcription of the 6th Bach cello suite for guitar.
He has attended and performed in masterclasses with the main international guitarists, from Josè Tomas to Oscar Ghiglia, from Betho Davezac to Angelo Gilardino, from Carlos Bonell to Julian Bream. His regular teacher was Bruno Battisti D'Amario, famous Italian concertist and teacher in the Conservatories of Florence and Rome, under whom he studied from 1979 till 2007.

Competitions 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 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 estensive 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.

Recordings, research, compositions and teaching
CDS to his credit are about a dozen, including rare original guitar music personally discovered in his travels, plus masterpieces from the international repertoire, particularly Bach and Sor music.
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 Villani enjoys also teaching, and holds a position in the Music Department of the Italian State Middle School.