Romeo Melloni
Composer, musician, teacher
“A combination of invitingly mysterious harmonizations, gentle lyrical melodies and interesting keyboard textures.”
–Allan Kozinn, New York Times
“Every kernel is developed logically and consistently.” (On the Chehalis Symphony)
–William Zagorski, Fanfare Magazine
“Romeo Melloni’s ‘Festive Overture’ could easily serve as a curtain raiser for just about any celebratory event. It’s a finely crafted piece with some arresting harmonic moments, beautiful melody and stunning instrumental effects.”
–Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine
“Melloni’s ‘Piano Trio’ is a lyrical work with hints of impressionist color. The opening allegro is passionate and songlike…the closing adagio is warm and genial in spirit.”
–Craig Zeichner, Fanfare Magazine
“We recently received Melloni’s Piano Symphony. The Adagio, in particular, is quite beautiful.”
–Katherine Kurtz Davis, KCME, Colorado Springs
“The warmth, the enthusiastic spontaneity, the vital fearlessness. I found these qualities wonderfully convincing!”
–Jehudi Wyner, Brandeis University
Romeo's latest book on canon composition
“This manual aims to explain the methods of composing very complex canons, which, from the author’s point of view, have never been clarified convincingly. After providing a complete picture of counterpoint techniques, the manual examines the canons of the Musical Offering and the Goldberg Variations with detailed analyses, and formulates innovative hypotheses on compositional procedures, accompanying them with appropriate checks. The manual is completed by a series of exercises aimed at putting the techniques presented into practice.”
(written in Italian)
Romeo's book on composition
“Lessons from Leopold is a manual on the traditional craft of musical composition from the Baroque to the late Romantic Period. With a step-by-step approach, Melloni explains the general principles, techniques and elements of musical structure from motives to large classical forms. In today’s digitalized world, music is composed mostly with the aid of computer programs. While a computer can cut and paste sound clips easily, it cannot develop the material. This manual is an attempt to preserve a craft that, when applied skillfully, brings the music to its full potential.”
Biography
Born in Milan, Romeo Melloni began his studies in music at an early age. After attending Milan University where he studied musicology with Francesco Degrada, Mr. Melloni moved to Boston.
In Boston he received his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music (1987), his Master of Music (1989) and the honorary Graduate Diploma in composition (1991) from the New England Conservatory.
His teachers include Robert DiDomenica, Theodore Antonio, and Giacomo Manzoni. Mr. Melloni has written seventy two works including solo, chamber, orchestral and vocal works.
His music has been performed in Europe and in the United States by numerous groups including: The New Hampshire Music Festival, The Slovak Radio Orchestra, The Silesian Philharmonic, The Moravian Philharmonic, The Cambridge Symphony, The Merrimack Valley Philharmonic, The Nashua Chamber Symphony, The Martinu Quartet, The Solati Trio, The Manchester Chamber Players and the Magellan Ensemble.
In the United States his music has been performed in New York City at Carnegie recital Hall, in Boston at Jordan Hall and in several other cities of the east coast. In Europe his music has been performed in Prague at the Rudolfinum and at Martinu Hall, in Milan at the Centro Filologico Milanese and in other European cities such as Olomoc (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovak republic), Katowice (Poland). Some of his composition have been recorded on the MMC label.
Mr. Melloni taught music theory and composition at Plymouth State University and now is currently a member of the faculty at the Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. He lives in Manchester with his wife Elizabeth.
Romeo Melloni è nato a Milano. Appassionato dell’espressione artistica in campo musicale, letterario e pittorico, dopo aver conseguito il diploma liceale, nel 1984 si è trasferito negli Stati Untiti dove si è dedicato in particolare agli studi musicali conseguendo titoli accademici in composizione presso il Berklee College of Music e il New England Conservatory. Vive a Manchester nel New Hampshire, dove continua la sua attività di scrittore, compositore e teorico di musica, e insegnante. Le sue opere musicali sono eseguite dal vivo e pubblicate.
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