Bosso Ezio Bosso

Ezio Bosso (Italian: [ˈɛttsjo ˈbɔsso] 13 September 1971 – 14 May 2020) was an Italian composer, pianist, double bass player, and conductor. He composed film scores such as Un amore and Gabriele Salvatores' Io non ho paura, and ballets which were performed by The Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, among others. As a pianist, he released a solo album which entered the Italian charts.

Life

Born in Turin in 1971, Bosso learned to read and play music before he was four and started to have his first piano lessons with his aunt who was a pianist.He studied piano, double bass and theory at Turin Conservatorium. At the age of 14, he became the bass player for the ska/rhythm-and-blues band Statuto. At the age of 16 he started his career as a double bass and piano soloist in France.He collaborated with orchestras including the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Bosso later abandoned popular music in order to become an orchestral conductor and classical composer, studying the double bass under Ludwig Streicher ,composition under Claude Vivier and professor Schölckner ,and conducting under Edgar Österreicher at the Vienna Music Academy.During his studies in Vienna he specialized on orchestra conducting, and took lessons from great conductor Sergiu Celibidache who played crucial role for Bosso's career. He scored Gianluca Maria Tavarelli's Un amore (1999) and Gabriele Salvatores' Io non ho paura (2003).

In 2011, after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, Bosso started suffering from a neurodegenerative syndrome. At first, the disease did not prevent him from playing, composing and conducting music. He wrote ballet music, music for theatre, operas, film scores, five symphonies, concertos, and chamber music including string quartets, piano trios, and sonatas. He collaborated with soloists such as Mario Brunello and Sergei Krylov, and conducted orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra. His compositions were featured in various performance art events, and theatrical productions. He also collaborated with theatre directors such as James Thiérrée and choreographers such as Rafael Bonachela.

On 30 October 2015, Bosso released his first solo studio album, The 12th Room [it]. A collection of piano works including Bosso's own Piano Sonata, as well as music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Christoph Willibald Gluck and John Cage's In a landscape, the album peaked at number three on the Italian FIMI albums chart, along with Adele and Coldplay. Some of Bosso's music for piano was compared to the work of Philip Glass.

In 2016, Bosso's music was used by the Royal Ballet for Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour, which was first performed by the San Francisco Ballet. He also worked for La Scala in Milan and La Fenice in Venice, and received commissions from the Vienna State Opera, New York City Ballet and Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

From 2017, he started focusing more on conducting and composing. In September 2019, Bosso announced that due to his neurodegenerative illness he was losing the control of two fingers and was therefore no longer able to play the piano.

«Io li consosco I domani che non arrivano mai

Conosco la stanza stretta
E la luce che manca da cercare dentro

Io li conosco i giorni che passano uguali
Fatti di sonno e dolore e sonno

per dimenticare il dolore»

— Ezio Bosso, 14 March 2020

Bosso died in his home in Bologna on 14 May 2020 at the age of 48 after a long struggle with his illness.

Awards

Bosso won several awards for his compositions, including the Australian Green Room Award and the Syracuse NY Award, and was nominated for two David di Donatello Awards.

Discography

• The 12th Room (2015)
• ...And The Things That Remain (2016)
• The Venice Concert (2016)
• Ezio Bosso Stradivarifestival Chamber Orchestra (2017)
• The Roots (A Tale Sonata) (2018)