Original Projects
“Luca Luciano in Concert”
Besides his very successful “Clarinet Recital” (with piano) performing the traditional repertoire (Brahms, Schumann, Poulenc, Debussy, etc.), Luciano is actually very much on demand as a solo artist presenting original projects strongly inspired by the practice of the musicians of the XVII and XVIII centuries and featuring his own compositions as well as pieces from the standard repertoire to complete the programme. Along with his Sonatas and some pieces by renowned late-Romantic composers, the programme also includes little gems by Pierné or Busoni and arrangements of music by Piazzolla or of Broadway classics by Frank Churchill, Kurt Weill, George Gershwin, or homage pieces to Giacomo Puccini, Stravinsky and Debussy. Luciano’s sonatas are in one movement only and, as most of his music, it often includes extemporisation, a key element of his aesthetics, aimed at making the poetic gesture and the reproduction of the composition coincide. Some of his main works for clarinet and piano are in fact inspired by the “sonata a solo” of the Barocco era, with basso continuo and “real-time variations” by the soloist. Luciano wants to get people to discover the full potential of his instrument, though his exceptional virtuoso skills are clearly evident, his music has always a distinctive melodic sense influenced by the Western European tradition and deeply rooted in his Neapolitan heritage.
“Clarinet Solo Project”
“…this was a most successful programme, much enjoyed by the capacity audience” (Musical Opinion, UK’s oldest classical music magazine)
This project is informed by Luca’s research on extended techniques and new music for solo clarinet that he regularly premieres in the UK (St Martin in the Field’s, Cambridge University, etc) and overseas. The heart of the performance is made of his two “Sequenze” along with Olivier Messiaen’s “Abime des Oiseaux” (from the “Quartet for the End of Time”) and other material from his recent releases, such as Luciano Berio’s “Lied”, John Cage’s Sonata, Stravinsky’s “Three Pieces”, arrangements of classics by George Gershwin or Villa-Lobos and parodies of famous themes by Giacomo Puccini, Francis Poulenc, Antonio Vivaldi. During the performance the clarinet is pushed to the edge using a wide range of styles and expressions on music either notated or “composed in real time”. Luciano tries in this remarkable journey to embrace all styles of music he loves in an imaginative tour around the world from Western European music to Afro-American or folkloric music of Southern Italy, from contemporary classical music with chromatic and angular-shaped lines to heartfelt melodies. The performance also displays the potential of the instrument endorsed by Luciano (with extra keys and rings) that has attracted much interest of critics and clarinet enthusiasts.
“Trio Elipsoidal & Luca Luciano”
Besides music by Osvaldo Lacerda and Paolo Bellinati or Luciano’s adaptation of Brahms’s string quintet, this project also features original compositions recently premiered in Sao Paulo and at Cambridge University.
“Duo Campos-Luciano”
Marking a new collaboration between the musicians and scholars Jose Henrique de Campos and Luca Luciano, this project presents new material for clarinet and guitar along with ad-hoc arrangements of music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Cesar Guerra Peixe, Tom Jobim, Ernesto Nazareth and pieces for solo instruments by Luciano Berio, Poulenc and De Falla. Thanks to a programme that explores different styles and idioms, uses contemporary techniques, material that is notated or “composed in real-time”, the duo present a cultural interchange between Brazil and Europe that started back in 2013 with concerts and tours around the two continents and recently presented at the National Portrait Gallery, Oxford and Cambridge University.
“Educational Projects”
“Master Class on the Contemporary Clarinet” (also in a format of a 3-days-course titled “The 20th Century Clarinet”)
“Lecture-Recital/Demonstration of the Possibilities of the Clarinet”
“Jazz Workshops/Courses” for beginner/intermediate or advanced musicians (with or without rhythm section)
(click here to access detailed information on all the different courses Luciano presents)