Gabriele Toia

Gabriele Toia: He graduated in piano from the ‘G. Verdi Conservatory’ of Milan. He went on to study composition with Alessandro Solbiati and, under the guidance of Emilia Fadini, harpsichord and fortepiano.

He specialized in clavichord with Bernard Brauchli and Christopher Hogwood, in harpsichord with Davitt Moroney and in baroque organ with Lorenzo Ghielmi and Paolo Crivellaro. Over time he has also dedicated himself to jazz music. He has given many recitals playing at numerous international music festivals and collaborated, among others, with the orchestra “basel sinfonietta”, the ensemble of violas da gamba “Il suonar parlante” conducted by Vittorio Ghielmi, the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, with conductors Michael Schønwandt, Giorgio Magnanensi, Monica Buckland Hofstetter and Fortunat Frölich and with pianist-early keyboard performer Michael Tsalka. Besides keyboard instruments, choral and chamber music, he has composed scores for several plays and short films as well as for numerous poetry readings, collaborating, with, among others, important italian poets Milo De Angelis, Vivian Lamarque and Franco Buffoni. In theater he has collaborated with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano (Giorgio Strehler and Oriella Dorella) and with actor Franco Branciaroli. His music has been performed in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Finland, Greece, The Netherlands, U.S.A., Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has won several prizes in international composition competitions such as the “Città di Albenga” in Italy and The Vox Novus in New York. He recently won the first prize (both jury and audience vote) at the International Clavichord Composition Competition (Finland). Some of his compositions are published by Simon Verlag, Berlin. He has recorded contemporary and ancient music for Ducale, La Bottega Discantica, MDS Records Zurich. Some of his compositions and performances have been broadcast by Rai Radio 3 e FD5, Radio Rumantsch, Schweizer Radio DRS 2 and WFMT Chicago and recorded on CD by Wirripang (Australia).