Italian concert pianist Matteo Bevilacqua currently holds the position of artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. He has garnered international recognition having recorded for esteemed labels such as Naxos Records and Grand Piano. His albums have been reviewed in prestigious publications such as Gramophone magazine, and his performances have been featured on the Italian national radio station Rai Radio 3. Throughout his career, Bevilacqua has presented over 100 solo concerts and has been a sought-after performer at various festivals, including Vaux Hall Summer, Castel dei Mondi, Mittelfest, Perosi and Legno Vivo, among many others.

In addition to his musical career, Bevilacqua explores multidisciplinary performances between the arts and science. One of his latest projects has involved a recital where the pianist has worn an EEG neuronal headset, capturing their brain activity and transforming it into real-time visual art. The concept creates an immersive environment, offering audiences a glimpse into the profound inner workings of a musician’s mind.

www.matteo-bevilacqua.it

Born in Tortona (Piedmont) in December 1872, Lorenzo Perosi came from a family of musicians with a strong religious connection – during the previous two centuries, many of his ancestors had been church musicians. In 1890, at the age of 18 and while still a student, Perosi obtained his first professional appointment, as organist at the Abbey of Montecassino. He was maestro di cappella in Imola between November 1892 and August 1894, and then took up the same post at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The following year he was ordained as a priest. According to Graziella Merlatti’s biography, Perosi wrote some 3,000 to 4,000 works, many of them still unpublished, making him the 20th century’s most prolific composer of sacred music. Giacomo Puccini said of him, ‘There is more music in Perosi’s head than in mine and Mascagni’s put together.’

Arturo Sacchetti