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Fabio MastrangeloItalian-Russian conductor and pianist
Country:
 Italy |
Biography of Fabio Mastrangelo
Fabio Mastrangelo is an Italian-Russian conductor and pianist who is known as one of the most prominent Italians in the contemporary music scene in Russia. He was born into a family of musicians on November 27, 1965, in Bari, Italy. His grandfather played the violin, and his father played the piano. It was his father who encouraged the five-year-old Fabio to start learning the instrument. He continued his education at the Niccolò Piccinni Conservatory in Bari, where he studied under Professor Pierluigi Camicia. During this time, Mastrangelo won his first awards in 1980 in Osimo and in 1986 in Rome.
After completing his undergraduate studies, Mastrangelo pursued his postgraduate studies at the Geneva Conservatory, under the guidance of Professor Maria Tipo, known as the 'Neapolitan Horowitz' in the United States. He also earned a performer's diploma from the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London.
Mastrangelo began his conducting career in 1986 when he became an assistant conductor at the Petruzzelli Theatre in his hometown. In 2006, he became the musical director of the same theater. He further honed his conducting skills at the Pescara Music Academy, under the guidance of Gilberto Serembe, a graduate of the Milan Conservatory. Mastrangelo also learned from renowned conductors Leonard Bernstein and Karl Österreicher, as well as Michel Tabachnik, Pierre Hétu, and Richard Bradshaw.
Throughout his career, Mastrangelo has received numerous accolades, including laureate titles at the Mario Gusella International Conductors Competition in 1993 and 1995, as well as being a finalist in the Donatella Flick International Conducting Competition in 2000.
From 1996 to 2003, Mastrangelo served as the artistic director of the Virtuosi di Toronto chamber orchestra, conducting orchestras from different countries, including the State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, orchestras from Nizhny Novgorod, Ukraine, and Hungary. He started working with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in 2001 and has continued to collaborate with them every season since then. Mastrangelo has also been the artistic director of the Chailly-sur-Armançon Festival since 2001.
As an opera conductor, Mastrangelo has led the orchestra of Teatro Argentina during the production of 'Le nozze di Figaro' in Rome. He has conducted 'La traviata' at the Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet and 'La Bohème' and 'Tosca' at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Theatre.
From 2007 to 2009, Mastrangelo was the principal guest conductor of the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre and later became its principal conductor from 2009 to 2010. In October 2011, he obtained Russian citizenship. He continues to be a guest conductor at the New Opera Theatre and the artistic director of the St. Petersburg Music Hall Theatre since 2013. In 2015, Mastrangelo became the artistic director and chief conductor of the Northern Symphony Chamber Orchestra and has held the same positions in the Northern Symphony Orchestra since 2016.
Mastrangelo is married to flutist Olesya Tertychnaya, and they reside on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg. The couple has a son named Stefan. Mastrangelo is fluent in Russian, English, French, and Spanish.
When asked to give advice to young colleagues in an interview, Mastrangelo said, "During times of despair, which undoubtedly will come, ask yourself a simple question: 'Do I truly love music?' If the answer is yes, then all that's left is to gather yourself and move forward."
