Ferrero, Lorenzo

Ferrero, Lorenzo, Italian composer; b. Turin, Nov. 17, 1951. He was basically self-taught in music, but received some training from Bruni and Zaffiri. He also attended the Milan Cons, and studied aesthetics with Battimo at the Univ. of Turin (graduated, 1974, with a study of the writings of John Cage). In 1974 he began working with the group Musik-Dia-Licht-Film-Galerie in Munich. In 1980–81 he was assistant to Bussotti at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, where he was artistic director in 1984. In 1981 he became a prof, at the Milan Cons. In 1982–83 he worked at IRCAM in Paris. He was artistic director of the Unione Musicale concert series in Turin from 1982 to 1988, and of the Verona Arena from 1991 to 1994. In his music, Ferrero bridges the gap between traditional opera and rock and popular music.

Works

DRAMATIC Rimbaud ou Lefils de soleil, melo-drama (1978); Marilyn, theater piece (1980); La figlia del mago, children’s opera (1981); Mare nostro, comic opera (1985); Salva-tore Giuliano, opera (1986); Carlotta Corday, opera (1988). ORCH.: Siglied for Chamber Orch. (1975); Arioso (1977; rev. 1981); Balletto (1981); Thema 44 for Small Orch. (1982); Dance Music (1985); My Rock for Small Orch. (1986).CHAMBER: My Rock, My Rag, My Blues for Piano (1984); Ostinato for 6 Cellos (1987). VOCAL: Canzoni d’amore for Voices and 9 Instruments (1985); Non parto, non resto for Chorus (1987).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire