Leonardo De Marchi
Biography Leonardo De Marchi
Leonardo De Marchi
De Marchi's (1989) artistic and research activity encompasses several fields: on the one hand, the traditional guitar repertoire, with a particular focus on the early nineteenth century; on the other, the dissemination of contemporary music and the expansion of literature for and with guitar. He is currently focusing in particular on the rediscovery of the ten-string guitar, presenting the experimental repertoire that, in the second half of the last century, had raised awareness of its unprecedented sonic possibilities and encouraged contemporary composers to enrich its literature.
Leonardo De Marchi studied at the conservatories of Venice (with G. Pepicelli and F. Baldissera), Novara (with G. Fichtner), and Pavia (with M. Preda), graduating with honors in 2010, 2014, and 2018, respectively. He specialized with A. Dieci and B. Giuffredi at the "G. Regondi" Academy in Milan and, in chamber music, with A. Caiello at the Accademia del Divertimento Ensemble.
His training included important encounters with C. Maccari and P. Pugliese and with pianist A. Commellato for 19th-century music, with O. Ghiglia, C. Marchione, P. Marquez, E. Casoli, and A. Tallini for 20th-century and contemporary music, and with S. Massaron for electric guitar.
He won first prize in the competitions of Mondovì (2005), Musile di Piave (as a chamber musician in 2008 and as a soloist in 2009), Piombino (2009), and Treviso (as a chamber musician in the contemporary music section, 2014). He was also the only Italian finalist in the 2010 edition of the "R. Chiesa" international guitar competition in Camogli.
He collaborates with numerous prominent artists in the Italian and European music scene, including Sauro Berti, Matteo Evangelisti, Alessandro Fagiuoli, Aleksander Gabrys, Fabrizio Paoletti, Fabio Ravasi, and Corrado Rojac.
He has recorded numerous CDs. Highlights include his recording as a member of the Cromatico Ensemble on the CD Aurelio Samorì – Contrasti sonori (Z-Best, 2017), the album Bach & Haydn for two guitars (DotGuitar, 2018, in duo with Florindo Baldissera), Enantiosemie – Contemporary Masterpieces for clarinet and guitar (Da Vinci, 2018, in duo with Sauro Berti), and Impressions. Selected guitar works by Livio Torresan (Da Vinci, 2020).
He is active as a popularizer and musicologist: he holds seminars on contemporary guitar literature for important institutions and is the author of record booklets and series of listening guides. He wrote the only literary study on Bruno Maderna's Y después for Il Fronimo and is the author of the book Nuovi orizzonti per la chitarra a dieci corde (Viator, 2019). He has edited numerous works for and with guitar, including Twenty-Four Preludes and Ricercari by Alfredo Franco (Ut Orpheus) and Dedica 2015 by Giacomo Manzoni (RAI Com).
