DESCRIPTION:
WDCB's Barry Winograd interviews Pianist Stefano Battaglia live at the PianoForte Studios, 1335 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605

About the Artist:

Born in Milan, Stefano Battaglia began studying piano when he was seven years old. He has performed at several Italian and European festivals, as well as hundreds of concerts as a soloist. He was awarded Best New Talent of 1988 and 1999 and Best Italian Musician by the magazine Musica Jazz. He has performed with leading Italian musicians and several international artists, such as Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Dewey Redman, Tony Oxley, Steve Swallow, Enrico Rava, Aldo Romano, Bill Elgart, Dominique Pifarely, Pierre Favre and many others. He has recorded more than 100 CDs and has received many awards for his solo piano and trio recordings. Since 1988, he has been teaching seminars entiteld, “Siena Jazz,” as well as a specializiation course and high level qualification classes for performers of Jazz Music in Siena. Battaglia has performed intense research on solo performance and on the dialogue with percussion instruments. This is evidenced by his fruitful collaborations with percussionists Pierre Favre, Tony Oxley, and Michele Rabbia. In 2005 the pianist recorded a celebratory work of 35 original compositions dedicated to the great poet Pier Paolo Pasolini. The double album “Re: Pasolini” was published in April of 2007. Battaglia’s uniqueness resides in chamber music background, which can explain his innate ability to pace a song with an organic flow and a gentle undercurrent that rises and recedes like the tide.