Mario Bertoncini (27 September 1932, in Rome – 19 January 2019, in Siena) was an Italian composer,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

, and music educator. In 1962 he was awarded the Nicola d'Atri Prize by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for his ''Sei Pezzi per orchestra'' and in 1965 he was awarded both the Gaudeamus International Composers Award and the Fondation européenne de la Culture prize for ''Quodlibet''. He has performed as a concert pianist with

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ...

s throughout Europe and North America and in Israel and Korea.

Life and career

Born in Rome, Bertoncini studied music composition with

Goffredo Petrassi Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.Petrassi, Goffredo. (2008). I ...

, piano with Rodolfo Caporali, and

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

with Gottfried Michael Koenig. He began his career as a concert pianist in Europe in 1956. For several decades he performed widely as both a recitalist and orchestral soloist; appearing under the batons of such conductors as

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s thr ...

Daniele Paris Daniele is an Hebrew male given name, the cognate of the English name Daniel. Danièle is a French female given name, an alternative spelling of Danielle. Men with the given name Daniele * Daniele Bracciali (born 1978), Italian tennis player * ...

, Mario Rossi,

Paul Hupperts Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, and Roelof Krol among others. He was a member of the Rome-based improvisation group Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza from 1965 to 1973; notably serving as the group's president from 1970 to 1972. In 1967 Bertoncini was appointed to the music faculty of the Pesaro Conservatory, where he remained through 1973. In 1974 he was made an Artist-in-Residence at the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation. Organisation ''DAAD'' is a ...

in Berlin where he created open air kinetic sound-sculptures for presentation at the Berliner Festwochen. In 1975-1976 he worked on the music faculty of

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in Montréal. From 1980 until his retirement in 2004 he taught on the music faculty of the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universit ...

. His final home was in Cetona, Italy.

References

*''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and the ...

'', edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicology, musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), whi ...

(2001), page 469.

External links

Official Website of Mario Bertoncini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertoncini, Mario 1932 births 2019 deaths Berlin University of the Arts faculty Italian classical pianists Male classical pianists Italian male pianists Italian composers Italian male composers McGill University faculty 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century Italian male musicians Musicians from Rome