Flavio Emilio Scogna

Flavio Emilio Scogna stands among the select Italian figures who have achieved substantial acclaim both as a composer and as a conductor. His conducting engagements span an exceptionally broad spectrum, reaching from Baroque repertoire through to the promotion of contemporary compositions.

Born in Savona, Italy, on August 16, 1956, Scogna pursued studies first at the Genoa Conservatory, subsequently at the University of Bologna, and later in Rome under the guidance of Franco Ferrara. From 1984 through 1988, he collaborated closely with Luciano Berio, who served as both mentor and friend. Under Berio’s tutelage, he explored composition as well as conducting techniques, and together they developed a fresh realization of Paul Hindemith’s Wir bauen eine Stadt from 1931. Since the mid-1980s, Scogna has produced a series of operatic and instrumental works that have garnered frequent performances across Italy. Notable among them are the Sinfonia concertante of 1987, the radio opera L’arpa magica from 1998, and the two-act opera La memoria perduta, which received a commission from the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and premiered there in 2002. Performances of his music have taken place at venues including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Teatro Communale di Firenze, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. European broadcasters such as Italy’s RAI, the BBC, and Radio France have featured his compositions. In his capacity as conductor, Scogna’s discography encompasses contemporary pieces, rediscovered Baroque material, and crossover works from the twentieth century, such as Nino Rota’s opera I due timidi recorded in 2004 and Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium, released by the Brilliant label in 2018 with the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana under his direction. He maintains affiliations with Brilliant as well as Tactus, the latter of which issued his 2007 recording of the original chamber edition of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle performed with the Coro da camera Petrassi. In 2013, Scogna received the De Sica Award for Classical Music, an honor previously bestowed upon Berio, Riccardo Muti, and Claudio Abbado.