Giancarlo Scalia - Biography

Biography

Canadian pianist and composer Giancarlo Scalia was born in Montreal. He began his musical studies at the age of 10 under the wing of Paolo Vani at the McGill Conservatory of Music. After graduating with Honors, he continued his studies with Dr. Angela Chan, before entering the École de Musique Vincent d'Indy and, finally, the Université de Montréal. He also participated in the piano and vocal accompaniment masterclass sessions of the Orford Arts Centre (notably with Marc Durand, Jimmy Briere and Olivier Godin), l'Académie Francis Poulenc in Tours, France (Francois Le Roux, Jeff Cohen and Noel Lee) and the Wiener Musikseminar in Vienna, Austria (Walter Moore).

As a performing pianist, he performs as both soloist and collaborative pianist, with a repertoire ranging from baroque music to modern composers such as Messiaen and Shchedrin. His own compositions also make up a significant part of his concert repertoire.

A proud supporter of contemporary composers, Mr. Scalia gave the world premiere of Montreal composer Octavian Lecca's Portrait in May 2006 and in August 2008, he and mezzo-soprano Christianne Belanger created the world premiere recording of composer Pierre DuBois' Combien de temps la terre..., a piece commemorating the tragic events that occurred at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.

Besides his numerous recital and concert performances, Mr. Scalia also enjoys performing at various benefit concerts. He performed at the Brain Waves Gala (benefiting the Franco di Giovanni Foundation) three years in a row as well as for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Make a Wish Foundation, Enfant-Retour Quebec, Montreal's Parcs Vivants and other benefit organizations.

As a composer, Giancarlo Scalia's works number in the 30s and are for a variety of instrumentations, including works for solo instruments, voice, chamber groups and orchestra. His compositional style is a unique blend of romantic and contemporary elements; a combination of modal, tonal and atonal music. Influences in his writing range from traditional composers like Chopin to contemporary figures such as Messiaen and Ennio Morricone.

Giancarlo Scalia received his first composition commission in November 2004 for a piece for 1 piano, 8 hands that was premiered at the Maison Trestler in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec later that year. In 2005, Giancarlo Scalia entered the studio to record his first album of piano compositions. The CD, entitled Sogno d'Amore (Liebestraum), was released in April 2005 under Davisca Productions and led him to various media appearances, including televised performances throughout Canada. The disc is now available in Canadian stores and worldwide through the Indie Pool website. Mr. Scalia has also composed music for various ensembles including l'Ensemble Paramirabo, the École de musique Vincent d'Indy string orchestra and the Orchestre d'Harmonie Leonardo da Vinci and several of his compositions have been premiered as part of the CéCo concert seasons.

Mr. Scalia began working in the film music field when he was commissioned in 2006 by the Laurier Macdonald Media Foundation to compose the music for the documentary Ripples in Time. The hour-long documentary received an AMTEC award and Giancarlo Scalia has since worked on film projects that have been presented in Canada as well as in Europe. His 2008 collaboration with the Spanish director Raimundo Morte was premiered at the Liber Barcelone festival in Spain.

Giancarlo Scalia is presently dividing his time between performing and composing and is currently pursuing a DESS in piano with Jimmy Briere and Marc Durand as well as a Masters in composition with Denis Gougeon at the Université de Montréal. He is also an active piano accompanist specializing in vocal repertoire, occupying various positions throughout Montreal.