Vittorio Cosma
Vittorio Cosma (1965) is a pianist, composer and producer. He is considered one of the leading figures of the Italian music scene and his name is connected to some of the most interesting projects of nowadays.
His most recent project, Deproducers, is a collective made by some of the most influential musicians and producers in Italy: Gianni Maroccolo, Max Casacci and Riccardo Sinigallia. Deproducers’ aim is that of making science accessible through music.
Deproducers made their debut by recording the Planetario CD in 2012 (Sony) which was brought on stage with Fabio Peri, astrophysicist and director of the “Planetario Hoepli” in Milan. The show is still being programmed. In 2016 they made Botanica, the second chapter of their series Music for Scientific Conferences, in collaboration with the neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso.
The group is a true cultural workshop active in several areas: background music for museums, seminars and conferences, artistic direction of festivals and events. They also made some soundtracks: in particular, Italy In A Day by Gabriele Salvatores (2014) and La vita oscena by Renato De Maria (2014).
Vittorio Cosma was Master Conductor and Artistic Director for La Notte della Taranta in 2002 and 2003, where he started his collaboration with Stewart Copeland.
With the former Police member he records albums and plays all over the world, both with the Ensemble Notte della Taranta and with Gizmo, a band started by Cosma and Copeland themselves with musicians coming from very different backgrounds: Armand Sabal Lecco (Paul Simon), Mauro Refosco (Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Byrne), Dave Fiuczynski (John Zorn), etc.
He collaborates with the DJ and producer Howie B (U2, Björk etc.), with Peter Gabriel’s band (David Rhodes, Ged Lynch, Richard Evans) and the Icelandic musicians Valgeir Sigurdsson and Borgar Magnasson (Björk, Sigur Ros).
He was a member of Premiata Forneria Marconi. He collaborates all his life with Elio e le Storie Tese in their records, tours and TV shows.
As a producer, musician and composer he has collected several gold records collaborating with artists like Fiorella Mannoia, Marlene Kuntz, Samuele Bersani, Pino Daniele, Fabrizio De Andrè, Enrico Ruggeri, Pacifico, Ivano Fossati, Almamegretta, Roberto Vecchioni, Mauro Pagani, Eugenio Finardi and many others.
He has worked with international musicians, like Airto Moreira, Miroslav Vitous, Jacques Morelembaum, Nils Petter Molvaer, Omar Hakim, Peter Erskine, i Mùm, Jorge Ben and many others.
In 1987 he opened the concerts of Miles Davis in his Italian tour.
Vittorio Cosma has conducted the orchestra at the Festival di Sanremo in several editions. The most recents were with Riccardo Sinigallia, Marlene Kuntz (prize for the duet with Patti Smith), Almamegretta, Samuele Bersani (critics prize), Cristiano De Andrè (critics prize), Enrico Ruggeri (winner in 1993) and Elio e Le Storie Tese.
He often takes part in the Concerto del Primo Maggio also with special projects: in 2012 with the Ennio Morricone’s orchestra and the Gnu Quartet in a tribute to The Beatles, while in 2013 he creates the Grande Orchestra Rock, an ensemble made by the best Italian musicians; the challenge is to put together a “superband” by joining totally different approaches and musical languages, from the historic guitarist of Vasco Rossi – Maurizio Solieri – to Federico Poggipollini (Ligabue), to Boosta of Subsonica, Stefano Di Battista, Bob Angelini, Andrea Mariano (Negramaro), singer-songwriters Colapesce and Appino, Fabrizio Bosso, James Senese, Emidio Clementi of Massimo Volume, rapper Ensi and the late Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (just to name a few).
He participates in several contamination projects like Copynight, the opening event for the Festival di Spoleto 2009 but mostly the great multimedia event Indeepandance, both created with Caterina Caselli.
Indeepandance was written and performed with video-artists Masbedo, the writer Aldo Nove and staged in prestigious locations like the Museo Maxxi in Rome and the Arena Civica in Milan, with guests coming from different disciplines (the writer Michel Houellebecq, Subsonica, Pierfrancesco Favino, DJ Richard Dorfmeister, Elisa, Icelandic band Mùm, etc)
He has composed many soundtracks for cinema, among which that of Colpo di luna (1995), prized at the Berlin International Film Festival.
He has composed the soundtracks to Nino Manfredi’s latest works.
He has also composed TV soundtracks for RAI and Mediaset (I Cesaroni, Una storia qualunque, etc.) and music for radio dramas.
He is the artistic director of the music and literature festival Le Corde dell’Anima in Cremona, as well as the multidisciplinary festival Microcosmi.
He was the director of the Mantova Musica Festival and the Festival Letterature di Roma – Massenzio.
He teaches at the Conservatorio di Trento and at the IED in Milan.
He gives lectures on communication in culture (Politecnico di Milano e Torino, Accademia di Brera, TED) and is a collaborator of the literary magazine Storie.
With Music Production, his production company in Milan, he has created music for several ads, among which Fiat, Coca Cola, Telecom, Ringo, Audi, Mediolanum, Rex, Jagermeister, Cornetto Algida, Johnny Walker, Suzuki, Motorola, Galbani, Seat, Saiwa, Volkswagen, Pavesi, Voiello, Ringo, Campari, Star, Autostrade and many more.