Flavio Villani
Flavio Villani is Italian-born New Zealand citizen living in Auckland. He completed a Bachelor of Piano Performance with Matteo Napoli at the Conservatory ‘G.Martucci’ in conjunction with a Bachelor of IT in Salerno, Italy in 2007. After working in IT in Barcelona he was given the opportunity of coming to New Zealand to pursue a career in music. He moved to New Zealand in 2008 to follow his dream and in 2012 he completed a Master in Piano Performance at the University of Auckland with first class honours under the guidance of pianist Stephen De Pledge.
Currently he is undertaking a DMA (Doctorate in Music Arts) through the Waikato University under the supervision of Katherine Austin. His Doctoral research on improvisation and score analysis is leading him to combine elements of composition in his teaching and performance, for a better understanding, embodiment and interpretation of the musical elements of a score - and in line with the musical practices of those times, when improvising was a normal aspect of the formation of any musician. Parts of his research and study is strong of the supervision of David Dolan at the Guildhall School of Music in London, an expert on this field.
The journey towards his first solo performance with an orchestra was documented in the feature length film ‘Crossing Rachmaninoff’. The film followed his preparations for, and performance of, Rachmaninoff Concerto n.2 in Calabria in 2015. After that performance he subsequently took different soloist opportunities performing Rachmaninoff Concerto n.2, Tchaikovsky Concerto n.1 and the Warsaw Concerto with the Orchestra of CalArts in Los Angeles, the New Plymouth Orchestra, the Taranaki Symphony, the Bay of Plenty Symphonia and the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.
He was absolute winner of the Northland Society Piano Competition in 2008 as well as winner of the first prize in the Llewelyn Piano Competition in both 2011 and 2012. He 2 Rachmaninoff n.2 in Calabria St Kevin’s Arcade, Auckland Flavio Villani - pianist August 8, 2020 has performed many recitals as a soloist as well as in different chamber formations in California, Texas, Italy, Spain and New Zealand. The festivals where he performed include: the Venice Biennale (2011) for the exhibition and installation of the New Zealand pavilion, ‘Lamezia Festival’ in Calabria and 'Pianino Festival' in the Chopin cell in Mallorca.
His interest in different arts collaborations and music composition led him to collaborate with different artists and media (TV, Cinema, Theatre) for the performance and creation of different original music: from theatre (“Human” with Dust Palace Company 2018, “The_Kiss” at UCOL 2012) to cinema score (“The Heart Dances” 2018, “Llueven Vacas” 2017, "Crossing Rachmaninoff" 2015) to TV (“Anchor Milk Campaign” 2016).
He was adjudicator of a number of national piano competitions in New Zealand in the past couple of years, he is member of the Villani Piano Quartet touring New Zealand with Chamber Music NZ in 2016 and of the Orion Piano Trio, a European based ensemble with whom he toured Italy and North Macedonia before the current worldwide limitations. Moreover he has given masterclasses to the "Tchaikovsky" Conservatory in Lamezia Terme (Italy) and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok (Thailand) as well as been part of different summer schools in Spain and Italy in recent years.
He directs and teaches at the private music school L'Accademia set in the St Heliers Community Centre in Auckland through which he organises music lessons, masterclasses and events.
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Music School Website accademia.flaviovillani.com
Pianist Website www.flaviovillani.com
YouTube Channel youtube.com/flaviovillani