Colors: Modern Music for Guitar

My newest release, Colors includes four mesmerizing and evocative works from contemporary composers Toru Takemitsu, Michael Tippett, Lou Harrison, and Benjamin Britten. Recorded in San Francisco, California, March 2011.

Genteel

Released in March 2009, Genteel collects my main influences as an interpreter and performer. Recorded in San Francisco, California, in August 2008.

Tones From an Open Heart

My debut release, Tones from an Open Heart is a collection of original fingerstyle music for steel-string and classical guitar. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, in February-March 2005.

Upcoming Shows

Past Shows

You can also download a PDF archive of performances back to 2002.

Gear

Coming soon.

Bio

I was born in Genova, Italy, one sunny September morning in 1983.
I first picked up the guitar when I was 8; actually, I really wanted to play the piano, but there was no way one would fit in our old home, so… I learned the basics from a family friend, then continued strumming happily on my own. When I went for my first lesson with Armando Corsi, one of Genova’s (and Italy’s) most talented acoustic guitarists, I was sure I knew all there was to know. I was wrong.
Luckily enough, Armando proved to be a very patient teacher, and I let him steer me on the right track. He introduced me to the nuanced world of unaccompanied guitar playing, exposing me to a variety of fiery folk and world styles in our weekly lessons. His encouragement and tutoring also impacted my first attempts at writing for the guitar.

Music was then my secondary focus, but some time during my first year as a pre-med college student I realized that I owed it to myself to do what I loved full time. The previous summer, I had met Muriel Anderson at a guitar workshop in Portland, Oregon. She suggested I pursue a music major at an American school, and her tip led me to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. After the initial culture shock (biscuits and gravy, anyone?) I quickly found my sea legs and began making the most of the plethora of opportunities that the college and city offered me; this period also saw the gradual shift of my interests from the folk and fingerstyle genres, to the world of classical guitar.

After graduating from Belmont in December of 2006, I was fortunate enough to be able to continue my studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, under the brilliant and stimulating tutelage of David Tanenbaum. The two years at 50 Oak St. went by in a blur, as my horizons were stretched and my musicianship sharpened well beyond what I thought were my limits. During my second year I served as the Guitar Department Assistant, and I decided to focus more and more on music by composers from the postwar period; the program of my graduation recital in May 2009 featured music written since 1967 exclusively.

The next step of my musical journey began in the fall of 2009, when I chose to continue my graduate studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I was extremely fortunate to find advisors such as Amy Beal, Leta Miller, and Larry Polansky, who encouraged me to keep close to my instrument and continue my development as a scholar-performer. In June 2013 I completed my Ph.D., focusing mainly development of just intonation guitars in 20th-century American music, with particular emphasis on the works of Lou Harrison, James Tenney, and Larry Polansky.

For the 2013–2014 academic year I will be teaching a diverse trio of courses (on 20th/21st Century Classical Music, Improvisation, and the Music of the Beatles) at the San Francisco Conservatory, UCSC, and Cal State Monterey Bay. I especially enjoy teaching in a classroom setting, and I look forward to this new stage of my career. Obviously I plan to also keep up my activities as a performer and a researcher—looks like I will be busy!

Repertoire

Modern, Contemporary, and New

(*) in progress
(ens) ensemble piece
(el) electric guitar
(JI) work in just intonation
(wp) world premiere

Concerti