Aeterna

MASSIMO GUANTINI

Maestro Massimo Guantini began studying music when he was very young, attending courses in piano, composition and orchestra conduction at the Luigi Cherubini musical academy in Florence.
After obtaining his diploma, he went on to win the international selection to attend Salzburg’s “Mozarteum”, a temple of extraordinary courses directed by Maestro Herbert von Karajan, who appointed Guantini to direct the end of course concert. In 1971 began working as a substitute maestro at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and he collaborated in the production of a series of very prestigious cultural and historical events.
In 1977 he participated in the “Yamaha Contest” in Tokyo as an arranger, orchestrator and orchestra director where he directed the most important Japanese orchestras during live television shows. During the spring of 1982 he took part in a tour of the main Japanese cities as a piano soloist with the musicians from the “Wiener Philarmoniker”. In 1990 he returned to work stably as a substitute maestro at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. He collaborates actively with Maestro Riccardo Muti as the musical director for the creation and production of new sounds and new technologies.
In September 2000 he took part in the Japanese transfer of the Teatro alla Scala and during this occasion he directed the internal orchestra of Verdi’s opera “La forza del destino” (“The Power of Destiny”).
Since 2005 he has been the deputy manager of the maestros collaborating with Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Along with his lyrical-symphonic activity, Maestro Massimo Guantini also explores the language of light music, composing pieces that are then recorded by internationally renowned artists such as Mina, Julio Iglesias, Caterina Caselli, Mia Martini, Milva, and Iva Zanicchi.
In the summer of 2001 he sealed his success as an author and composer: he wrote the song entitled “Se la gente usasse il cuore” for Andrea Bocelli, which was then used as the theme song for the very successful television fiction series called “Cuore”, this piece was also included in the very successful album entitled “Cieli di Toscana”.
For television he composes and orchestrates music for documentaries, journalistic enquiries and as a musician and arranger he collaborates in the production of important television programmes, leaving a mark on the history of Italian television such as Fantastico, Domenica In and Festival but to name a few. In 2003 he composed the music for the 150 episodes of the television fiction series “Batticuore”. He is the leading pianist in the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) Orchestra and in the jazz concerts organised by the state radio. Among his many professional experiences, during the 1980’s he was involved in the production and management of a series of radio programmes in Radio Vaticana’s Studio A: he personally produced and conducted over 40 episodes of the programme entitled “Musica e Cinema”.
Thanks to the success of this programme, Maestro Massimo Guantini began to collaborate with the daily newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano”, for which he also writes essays in the Sunday edition. During the same period, he also produced a series of jazz and chamber music concerts for Studio A.
As a professor, he has taught score reading in the Musical Academies of Brescia, Como, Milan and Trento.

ARMANDO FRANCESCHINI

Maestro Armando Franceschini studied music with Andrea Mascagni and Niccolò Castiglioni, he obtained a diploma in Choral Music, Choir Directorship and Composition.
He completed several specialisation courses at the Accademia Chigiana with Franco Donatoni and at the “Music Laboratory” in Città di Castello with Salvatore Sciarrino. He completed his academic preparation with Piero Guarino studying Orchestra Conduction at the Musical Academy of Parma. A composer of choral music, chamber music and orchestra music, he has participated in a series of important national and international events such as the Festival Pontino di Musica Contemporanea, Festival delle Nazioni di Musica da Camera, Venezia Opera Prima, Nuove Proposte Musicali degli Amici della Musica di Castel S. Angelo in Rome. He was also commissioned by the Haydn Symphonic Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano, by the Camerata Casella of Turin, Incontri Internazionali di Musica ‘900 and Festival di Musica Sacra in Trento and Bolzano.
At the beginning of the 1980’s he founded and directed a vocal chamber group called “Il Virtuoso Ritrovo” with which he carried out some important research studies within the framework of the polyphonic renaissance repertoire, with extensive concert activity in Italy and abroad (Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, The United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada and the United States of America). Towards the end of the 80’s he collaborated with Ermanno Olmi on the soundtrack for the film “Lunga vita alla signora”, which won the “Leone d’Argento” award at the Venice Film Festival. He writes soundtracks for many radio and television shows. He also collaborates with the “Centro per l’educazione musicale e la sociologia della musica” (Centre for musical education and the sociology of music” of the University of Trento.
He has produced numerous editorial and record publications, among which the revision of the Opera Omnia by Francesco Antonio Bonporti. In December 2002, the prestigious white voices choir of Vienna, the “Wiener Sängerknaben”, published some of his choral pieces taken from the traditional Christmas repertoire. In 2003 he wrote an orchestral arrangement for the piece “Ora che ho bisogno di te”, with which Fausto Leali participated in the 53rd edition of the Festival of Sanremo in a duet with Luisa Corna.
He collaborates with artists from the world of show business, among which: Umberto Bindi (orchestration of the album entitled “Bindi”), Lucio Dalla (production of the album entitled “Terra di Gaibola”), Ron (orchestration of the album entitled “Adesso”) and Johnny Dorelli (orchestration of the melodies for the television programme “Premiatissima”).
He teaches at the Musical Academies of Mantova and Parma. He is a professor of Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue and Composition at the “Francesco Antonio Bonporti” Musical Academy in Trento, which he has been director of since 1989.

ANDREA FRANCESCHINI

Andrea Franceschini was born in Trento in 1982 and studied Oboe and Percussions at the Musical Academy of his native city, he has obtained the Compimento Medio (equivalent to an M.A.) in Percussion instruments and has a high school diploma with specialisation in music.
In 2005 he was awarded a degree in The Science and Technology of Communications from the Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM of Milan.
As a literary author he has written narratives and music for selected pieces in international competitions held in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Holland, which have been broadcasted by the respective national radio stations.

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