Francisco Mignone

Francisco Mignone
(b São Paulo, 3 Sept 1897; d Rio de Janeiro, 2 Feb 1986). Brazilian composer and conductor.

A son of an Italian immigrant musician, he began flute and piano studies with his father, continuing his piano training from 1907 under Silvio Motto. At an early age he played both of his instruments in local dance orchestras. He studied the piano, the flute and composition at the São Paulo Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Cantù and from where he graduated in 1917; although Mário de Andrade was his teacher for history and aesthetics, it was only later that Mignone came under Andrade's influence. By 1920, when he left for Europe, Mignone had composed and conducted several orchestral pieces. He studied under Ferroni at the Milan Conservatory, and there he wrote the opera O contratador de diamantes (1921), first performed in Rio de Janeiro in 1924; Congada, taken from the second-act ballet, achieved great popularity. A second opera, L'innocente, was presented in Rio with great success in 1928; the following year Mignone returned to the São Paulo Conservatory as a harmony teacher. In 1933 he moved to Rio and was appointed official conductor and conducting teacher at the Escola Nacional de Música; he also taught privately for many years. After a European conducting tour (1937–8) he visited the USA for the first time in 1942. In New York the League of Composers had some of his works performed and he conducted the NBC and CBS orchestras in concerts of his music. During the next two decades he held many different appointments in Brazil, among them the music directorships of the Teatro Municipal, Radio Ministério da Educação e Cultura and Radio Globo.