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Chessa, Luciano (b. 1971, Sassari, Sardinia). Italian composer of mostly stage, chamber and vocal works that have been performed in Europe and elsewhere; he is also active as a musicologist and performer.
Dr. Chessa studied composition with Francesco Carluccio and Costante Fantini and piano with Angela Aloi and Gisella Frontero at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini in Bologna from 1989–96 and also studied music history with Franco Alberto Gallo at the Università di Bologna from 1989–97, where he graduated magna cum laude. He studied musicology with Anna Maria Busse Berger, D. Kern Holoman, Douglas Kahn, David Nutter, and Christopher Reynolds at the University of California at Davis from 1998–2004, where he earned his PhD.
As a musicologist, he has done extensive research on the relationship between the musical machines of Leonardo da Vinci and the intonarumori of Luigi Russolo. He has also written articles on this and other subjects for various Italian publications. As a performer, he has played đàn bâu (1-string zither), musical saw and piano in Europe and the USA. Moreover, he served as assistant conductor of the University of California at Davis Gospel Choir from 2001–04.
He is also active in other positions. He organized concerts for the Link Project in Bologna from 1996–98 and founded its concert series Convergenze parallele in 1997. He has worked as the Music Program Coordinator of the Italian Cultural Institute in San Francisco since 1999, for which he has organized numerous concerts of contemporary Italian music.
He currently teaches music history and music literature at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
RAI Trade publishes his music.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: lchessa@sfiic.org
Street address (university): Dr. Luciano Chessa, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., San Francisco, CA 94102-6011, USA
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: Lavoro (action), any player, 1997; Karaoke (action, text by Dario Bellezza), voice, 2-track tape, 1997; Levia Gravia, 2 1-/2-track tapes, small competent audience, 1998; Notti Sylvane. Seconda serie. (solo meditation), any player, 1998; Dr. Faustus (incidental music, play by Christopher Marlowe), 2-track tape, 2001; Rhinocéros (incidental music, play by Eugène Ionesco), 2-track tape, 2003; Inkless Imagination no. 2, for Fedele Azari, dancer, identifiable flying object, đàn bâu, 2006
ORCHESTRAL: Launisch, variable orchestra, 1997
CHAMBER MUSIC: O.G., 2 trumpets, 1989; O.A., 2 trumpets, 1989; Nouronihar, oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, piano, celesta, percussion, 1997–98; Tryptique pour Gérard, 5 donkey gruntlers (reed instruments by Ramon Sender; 4 players), 2003; Moan, musical saw, live electronics, 2003; Cinque quadri da una città fantasma, piano, 3 turntables (1 operator), 2003; Nouronihar II, alto flute, oboe, bass clarinet, 2003; At the end you'll be one minute older, bass clarinet, 2004; PETROLIO. Quattro Quadri da Pasolini, piano, percussion, 2004; Casu Marzu, musical saw, 2004; Inkless Imagination no. 1, for Douglas Kahn, donkey gruntler, wirelessly amplified musical saw, 2004; Notti Sylvane. Prima serie., 2 oboes, English horn, bassoon, 2005; N A M B, amplified mini-bass musical saw, 2005; 'Man's unconquerable mind', amplified mini-bass musical saw, 2005; 'Why Can't We All Just Get Along?', amplified mini-bass musical saw, 2005; 'Ha una voce e non varia', amplified mini-bass musical saw, 2005; Inkless Imagination no. 3, for Richard Taruskin, remote-controlled car, piano, 2005; Nodi d'amore, amplified đàn bâu, 2006; CINABRO, viola, piano, 2006
CHORAL: Il pedone dell'aria (text by the composer), double children's chorus, orchestra, 1996, revised 2006 (also version as Il pedone dell'aria II, double children's chorus, piano, 1996, revised 2006); Recitativo, Aria e Coro della Vergine (text from an anonymous Sardinian source), soprano, 2 mixed choruses, organ, percussion (+ celesta), 2002 (section of incomplete oratorio Urlo impietrato; may be performed separately); Sondra (cantata da camera, text by the composer), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, small orchestra, 2005
VOCAL: Analfabeta (text by the composer), wirelessly amplified voice, wirelessly amplified ensemble (viola, cello, piano, celesta), 1992; Carpe (text by the composer), wirelessly amplified voice, wirelessly amplified ensemble (violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion), 1993; Peppa (text by the composer), wirelessly amplified voice, wirelessly amplified ensemble (2 pianos, timpani, bass drum), 1996; Mielecuore (text by the composer), voice, 2000, revised 2006; Il pedone dell'aria (text by the composer), voice, piano, 1996–2001; Angela D. (text by the composer), speaker, mini-bass musical saw, 2003; Three Hilliard songs (texts by Thomas Hardy, Jack Kerouac, Stephen Morrissey), baritone, 2004; Polinesiano, wirelessly amplified voice, alto flute, violin, cello, piano, 2006
PIANO: After Coleridge, 1995; Cirri, 2001; Variations on a Prop (from Jorge Boehringer's 'The Future of American Transportation'), piano (played by person guiding the hands of a large stuffed animal), 2002, revised 2005
ORGAN: Nouronihar, 1997, revised 2006
MULTIMEDIA: Tom's heart, piano, musical saw, live electronics, film (by Terry Berlier), 2003 (also version for 2 pianos [1 player], film [by Terry Berlier], 2004); S.I.R., amplified mini-bass musical saw, laptop, 4 photographs (by Alessandra Chessa), 2004 (collaboration with Miguel Galperin)
(Last updated on April 30, 2007)
