Giovanni Piacentini: Chiaroscuro Giovanni Piacentini

• Giovanni Piacentini: Chiaroscuro:
• 1I. Spring Light (Mono no aware)03:04
• 2II. Summer Light03:36
• 3III. Night Sounds02:27
• 4IV. Autumn Light02:40
• 5V. Winter Light03:36
• Chasing Shadows:
• 6Chasing Shadows09:49
• Miniatures:
• 7I. Apparition01:01
• 8II. The Cyclops01:47
• 9III. Leda and the Swan01:16
• 10IV. Melancholy02:52
• 11V. Mystère01:37
• 12VI. The Smiling Spider01:29
• 13VII. The Raven01:05
• Total Runtime36:19

Info for Giovanni Piacentini: Chiaroscuro

Global guitarist and composer Giovanni Piacentini’s talents as a dual-threat musician are on full display on CHIAROSCURO, his debut album. He wrote all these works themed around his instrument of choice, and his playing appears on two pieces – Miniatures, for guitar and chamber ensemble, and a solo guitar performance on the title track. Yet, even on the tracks where he does not perform, the composer’s voice remains ever-present, namely in each work’s reverberant use of space.

Piacentini describes himself as highly attuned to the “overall sound and impact” of classical guitar. The album’s three works affirm this assertion, and indicate this sensitivity also applies to pieces which pair guitar with an ensemble (Miniatures) as well as compositions written for a different set of instruments entirely (Chasing Shadows). Throughout CHIAROSCURO, the guitarist’s musical mindset as a solo performer remains a central influence on the album’s compositional personality.

The title track’s five movements feature a distinguished improvisatory style, which develops with enthralling spatial characteristics that blend the guitar’s various timbres with added reverberation. Under Piacentini’s virtuosic hands, Chiaroscuro beautifully mixes harmonics, tremolo, and other techniques that yield a detailed musical landscape rich with naturalistic imagery.

Miniatures expands the guitar-centric color palette of Chiaroscuro, with an accompanying ensemble accentuating the six-string’s timbres with flavors of bass clarinet, vibraphone, percussion, viola, and violin. At points, the strings and bass clarinet seemingly emerge from the sound of the guitar, illustrating the connection between Piacentini’s perspectives as a composer and performer. Chiaroscuro and Miniatures share similar structures; each work has multiple movements based on specific images – seasons and times of day in Chiaroscuro, and paintings in Miniatures – and tend to present musical snapshots more than transforming narratives.

In addition to its absence of guitar, Chasing Shadows – for violin, bass clarinet, vibraphone, and harp – is a distinct work on the album. Here, the violin is the primary soloist, and leads the listener on an exciting and beautiful musical journey. Accordingly, Piacentini designs an exquisite violin part that traverses a range of moods and energies, from determined athleticism to yearning lyricism.

Giovanni Piacentini, guitar
Tim Fain, violin
Mike McGinnis, bass clarinet
Jane Yoon, harp
Chris Graham, vibraphone
Brian Walsh, bass clarinet
Matt Cook, percussion
Derek Tywoniuk, vibraphone
Andrew Tholl, violin
Andrew McIntosh, viola

Giovanni Piacentini
is a composer whose body of work is as diverse as his cultural background. Born in Mexico City to an Italian doctor, an opera lover, and a Mexican figurative painter, he was exposed to a wide array of artistic expressions that helped shape his musical vision.

As a 9 year old, he picked up his aunt’s beat up guitar and played it until his fingertips were raw. He developed an immediate and intense love for the instrument and it remains his main vehicle for discovering his sound. As a teenager, Giovanni was exposed to a myriad of musical genres ranging from his father’s opera and Italian song collection to Mexican folk music, Brazilian bossa-nova, and, of course, Rock and Roll. Having mastered some of the standard guitar repertoire, he began exploring the more contemporary guitar language of works by composers like Leo Brouwer, Toru Takemitsu and Benjamin Britten.

A chance encounter in Rome with guitar great Eliot Fisk led to Giovanni's invitation to study first at his seminar and eventually as Fisk's full time student. At this time, Giovanni was already writing a few short pieces for other instruments and decided to devote his time entirely to writing music rather than becoming a concert guitarist.

He graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music with a B.A. in composition and music synthesis. He went on to write his first instrumental compositions, “Chaotic Transformations” for two marimbas which premiered at the Boston Public Library as well as “Tryptic” for piano trio. He also wrote his first solo guitar piece “Suite Lacanja”, a programmatic work inspired by the landscape of the Lacanja river in southern Mexico.

Giovanni dove deeper into the more conceptual sounds of Berio, Ligeti and Xenakis while also exploring the late medieval and renaissance polyphonic creations. In a seminar with Mexican composer Victor Rasgado, he realized he needed to expand his knowledge and experience and decided to further his studies abroad. He sent samples of his work to a handful of established composers, including Dr. Richard Danielpour, who later invited him to study privately at his studio in NYC. Danielpour was instrumental in Giovanni’s discovery of his own compositional voice. Noticing a strong will, discipline and a voracious appetite for learning, he encouraged Giovanni to apply to the Masters in Composition program at the Manhattan School of Music.

After an immersive two years in school and in the New York City composition circle, Giovanni earned his M.A. in Composition graduating with honors. He edited works for guitar commissioned by Sharon Isbin and David Starobin. He assisted his mentor, Dr. Danielpour, with premieres including a piano concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and a large scale Oratorio with the Pacific Symphony. During this time, Giovanni wrote his first symphonic work, “Animus”, which was performed under the baton of Dr. David Gilbert. Performing with the school’s choir at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C was a highlight of his time at MSM.

Since then, Giovanni has been very active as a composer receiving commissions from a variety of internationally renowned soloists and ensembles including the harp duo, “Duo Scorpio”. the Irish violin and viola duet “Collailm Duo”, the concert series “Music of Reality” in Boston, MA, Violinist Tim Fain, the sTem Trio, and the “Mexiam” festival in San Francisco, CA.

This album contains no booklet.