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Marco Di Stefano

Composer

Belgium-Italy

Author

  • 4

    Videos

About

He approaches the piano at an early age, following his compositional instinct and starting from there a ten-year course of studies in piano technique and orchestral composition with three distinct masters such as Giovanni D'Aquila in Palermo, Adriano Guarnieri in Bologna and Luc Brewaeys in Brussels.

His style is simple, structured and narrative. Each of his compositions born to tell a story and his predisposition towards narrative music leads him to artistic collaborations with painters, photographers and authors, in search of the perfect union between musical work and art.

In 2018 he published the album “Portraits”, a collection of dreamy, storytelling orchestral compositions inspired by a series of photos by artist Vincenzo Vitale.

In 2019 “L’estate del ‘78” was released, the first of a collection of “books soundtracks”, music truly inspired by the story of the book (Sellerio) from Italian writer Roberto Alajmo. The album was performed live in April 2019 in Italy, becoming a theatre show where words and music joins and create a unique experience to navigate through the emotions of the book accompanied by its soundtrack.

In 2019 Di Stefano started collaborating with another Italian writer Stefania Auci, to write its second “book soundtrack” album for the newly released and highly appreciated book “I leoni di Sicilia” (Edizioni Nord) which has been translated in several languages.

Marco Di Stefano music’s is today available on digital stores and its YouTube channel.

https://marcodistefano.art/

Sheets

Interview

What does music mean to you personally?

I have the feeling that my brain activity produces sounds and that any thought, dream or emotion is represented as music. With the time I learnt to hear these sounds and to think through music, see the world as rhythm, melodies and frequencies. Composing is the act of carefully listening to these sounds and transcribe them into a communicable, enjoyable form of music.

Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?

Surely it is, its origin is in the deepest part of ourselves where also fantasy comes from.

If you were not a professional musician, what would you have been?

This is an easy answer because I already have a second profession which is being a freelance specialized as Enterprise Architect in IT domain. My life is a perfect and harmonious balance between the myself composer and the myself IT professional.

The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about the future?

I don’t think we should worry; we just need to find the right direction to keep classical music alive in harmony with the new tendencies and musical tastes.

What do you envision the role of music to be in the 21st century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?

Surely the role of music continuously changes. Today I think most of its value is exploited in the movie industry. We should be able to bring to that industry music which is valuable, like big composer as Ennio Morricone or John Williams do, music which can be easily performed on a theater and can bring young listeners to be curious about classical music.

Do you think that the musician today needs to be more creative? What is the role of creativity in the musical process for you?

As a musician I believe experimentation is key; and today new technologies can offer a wide range of tools that can be used to boost creativity. In my personal experience creativity is all: my music is the result of inspiring sessions on the piano (often capturing improvisations) rather than a theoretical approach. As an IT professional, I dream to find, one day, new way to express my creativity through the use of technologies.

Do you think we as musicians can do something to attract the younger generation to music concerts? How would you do this?

I think we can do something mainly related to communication. For example, I have a youTube channel where I share my music because I know lot of millennials use it to listen to music. In this youTube channel I also publish videos to help young composers to find their way, this helps to attract youngster which then listens to my music.

Tell us about your creative process. What is your favorite piece (written by you) and how did you start working on it?

My creative process is always triggered by an inspiring moment related to a story, a picture, a feeling... It might start on my piano, where I write on paper the initial idea, and continue everywhere during the day, on the metro, on the walk, during working hours: once the initial idea is in my head, I keep working on it till it’s finished. My favorite piece from the last year is “L’ultima volta di ogni cosa” from my latest album “L’estate del ‘78”. A track which I started to compose during a night dream, when suddenly waking up allowed me to fix that notes that became the first main melody of the track.

Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?

There are lot of resources out there and Moving Classics TV is surely one of them.

Do you think about the audience when composing?

Actually no, composing is for me an introspective activity. I do it always thinking and focusing on myself. So, it happens that I compose music that I know will be hard to be listened to (avant-garde) but I tend to don’t care too much and eventually publish it anyway: this is for example the case of my album “Hypnosis: concerto for orchestra” available on my streaming channels.

What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?

I am currently working on an orchestral composition in the style of the great composers of the 1900. My dream would be then to find an orchestra who could perform it live. At the same time, I am looking at another book for which write a soundtrack album, following the success of my latest album “L’estate del ‘78”.