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Frank Abbinanti (bn.1949) since 1998 was seminar lecturer at The University of Chicago, with courses including: 'Piano Music, Old Genres New Passions' and a recent item 'The Music Philosophy of Theodor Adorno' and another entitled 'Creativity'. Prior to this time he had presented similar courses from 1992 to 1997, at The Newberry Library, Chicago. In addition to this he has organized concerts of new music at The Green Mill Chicago and has in the past given lecture concerts on contemporary expression in the arts and had long been, since 1985 associated with various European Consulates in Chicago.A native Chicagoan, from 1964 to 1968 studied on scholarship with Chicago Symphony trombonist Frank Crisafulli. Then changed emphasis to the piano, pursuing a performance degree at The American Conservatory of Music. At this time he also studied performance art and composition with Richard Teitelbaum, later some piano with Frederic Rzewski at the School of the Art Institute, where he became their teaching assistants. He then pursued a Master’s Degree in Composition and Conducting, studying with Ralph Shapey at The University of Chicago. However the post-dodecaphonic language Shapey had encouraged, was not where he found a viable creative voice, and from 1976 to 1983 quit music altogether working in the fields of banking and law. He then in 1983 returned to music and studied composition with Ben Johnston.He returned to the Chicago music scene instigating a memorial concert for Cornelius Cardew, a friend, and was heard in a live broadcast with Peter Gena on Studs Terkel’s celebrated radio show, WFMT.98.7 FM. Later as well, a radio show in 1989 was devoted to Abbinanti’s music.He continued to compose, fascinated by the utilization of political and historical imagery as points of inspiration and musical activism, and has been commissioned numerous times, receiving honorariums and lecture invitations from foundations, universities, cultural agencies and soloists here and in Europe: The Illinois Arts Counsel, The City of Chicago, The Pitzen Brass Ensemble, Kapture, Chicago Society of Composers, The Harper Symphony, The Goethe Institute, The New Valley Symphony (Los Angeles), Jornados de Electronica, (Madrid, Spain), The Royal Dutch Consulate, DePaul University, Chicago,Trio Hernadi,(Rome) The Rosenbaum Foundation,(1989) Chicago, Artbursts, (Alabama),Rocco Parisi, Bass Clarinetist, (Genoa),1995 and Massimiliano Muzzi, Pipe organist (Rome); Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Kunstler Agentur (DDR);Azusa Pacific University, and CalArts, Valencia, California,(2001) The Outpost Performance Space, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2002), and The Lexington Arts Council, Kentucky (2003), and Echo Performing Arts, Tarzana, California, 2004, New Music Alberta, Canada, 2004, and Unerhoerte Musik, Berlin, May, 2005. In 1985 he began concertizing in Europe as pianist/composer invited to play at the Aktive Musik Festival, (Germany), The London Musician’s Collective, The Cornelius Cardew Foundation in London, (1990) The Logos Foundation in Ghent, (1990); Cirque Divers in Liege, (1985) and the Ecole des Beaux Arte in Nantes, France (1990), Nuova Consonanza, (Roma),(1995), performing his own works as well as other Chicago composers.In terms of CD recordings; Keith Rowe of the improvisation ensemble AMM has recorded Abbinanti’s electronic 'city music', (Matchless Recordings, England) and on Newport Classic his 'Meteln Kassandra' is available. That is a chamber work, after the novelist Christa Wolf, a work having an anti-nuclear message, and recorded and commissioned by The Chicago Pro Musica, who are members of the Chicago Symphony. Also they had presented two public performances of that work, one at The Kranert Center, Urbana, Illinois and the other at Fermi Labs. He recently produced his Compact Disc, 'JENIN' a one-hour work for pianos dealing with issues surrounding the Middle East.In 1989 he wrote a large cantata commissioned by the Lira Singers, a Polish Women’s 14 -voice ensemble, a work entitled cantata imigranta, performed in its entirety twice in Chicago as well as excerpts performed in Poland. In the same year he toured eleven cities in East Germany (DDR) with The Chicago Chamber Orchestra where they had performed his 'Four Songs' for Soprano and Orchestra. It was widely received there just prior to the demise of the government and the Berlin Wall, with press that understood his interest in the struggle of women throughout different points in history. That work had utilized the writings of Margaretta D’arcy, Alfonsina Storni, Elsa Morante, and Simone de Beauvoir .In 1990 he began giving lecture/concerts to packed houses with the various European Consulates in Chicago, the Goethe Institute and the Italian Cultural Institute where he functioned as Music Advisor. At these lectures Abbinanti had given the local premieres of solo brass works himself as; Post-praeludium per Donau for Tuba and Live Electronics by Luigi Nono, works for solo trombone by Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi, Folke Raab, 'tiff' for Euphonium by Hans Joachim Hespos; and a Tuba Solo by Annette Schluenz from Dresden. He was also the first to produce concerts with Peter Gena and Interarts Chicago, Inc. in Chicago for; The Arditti Quartet (1988); Gerhard Stabler, composer (1985,1987); Stefano Scondanibbio, contrabassist (1991); John Cage (1987); also Diamanda Galas, (1984); AMM (1984,1987); composer Chiara Benati,(1992) (Bologna). Also from The Netherlands he helped produce events for; The Willem Breuker Kollectiev (1988); and Diuwke Aalbers, soprano, as well as pianists Giancarlo Cardini, John Tilbury, Anthony de Mare, John White (1999,2001,2002), as well as in 1997 hosting a one week festival NEMO, with Pierre Boulez as advisor with the Ensemble Moderne and four European guest composers Walter Zimmermann, Detlev Glanert, Ada Gentile, Eliane Radigue and others.In 1992 he was commissioned by The Italian Cultural Institute/Chicago to write a cantata for the Columbus 500th Celebration, 'come una forza di luce' (like a force of light) was the result for four vocal soloists and the Grant Park Symphony utilizing subversive texts adapted from Dante, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Giacomo Leopardi.Recently Abbinanti’s creativity has rendered the creation of miniature works for solo brass and winds, as well as 57 Etudes for the piano drawn from historical images past and current of American history.Current creativity includes a set of new chamber works written within the genre of a highly complex musical language and include, 'the flourishing of the black roosters', for string quartet, 'power clown', 'black market gardening', and 'pravda', a piano solo and piano trio, 'euskal' a string trio, also 'the maquiladoras sonata', and the 'rogue state sonata' for piano solo and an 'African Album'Kinderszenen for prepared piano are recent works.Within the Los Angeles area, Abbinanti had collaborated with poet/writer George Wong in three separate works for female vocalist and large orchestra entitled 'Industrial Romance' heard between 1998 and 2001, as well as a one-hour piano solo Abbinanti had performed there entitled a 'Paraphrase, Deng' from their chamber opera. Also performed there was an important Cello Concerto, 'estratega a contrapecho del hombre' (a plot against humanity’s heart) was commissioned by Janice Foy in 1999 performed at Azusa Pacific University in California. That worked obliquely addressed the issues and current turmoil surrounding Bosnia, and Kosovo.From 1991 to 1995 Abbinanti was assistant conductor of The Citywide Orchestra, sponsored by The City of Chicago, Chicago Park District.Currently as a work-in-progress, a CD as accordionist with avant-garde vocalist Anna Homler will be released by 2009, and another featuring Abbinanti’s Double CD, 'LES NUITS 'for Solo Piano in 2007.In the summer and fall months he plays euphonium for the Banda Napoletana at Italian Feasts in the Chicago land area. He is also a Board Member of Echo Performing Arts and Orchestra, a non- profit organization within the Los Angeles area.His music is published by Frog Peak Music, Lebanon, New Hampshire and will release his first book, dialogues, creating music, a series of interviews, essays, and reviews on issues of musical creativity today. On the website Amazon.com under ginz1 and tusai, Abbinanti has over 480 reviews on contemporary music, music history, book reviews on theory, cultural essays, philosophy and opera.His writings have appeared in Contemporary Music Review. He is currently Co-Editor of the upcoming CMR Issue for 2008 on composer Ralph Shapey.