Francesco Pellegrino is a Florence-based multidisciplinary artist and musician, whose works include electroacoustic and electronic music, performance and interactive – multimedia installations.
Francesco Pellegrino (1986) studied at the Cherubini Conservatory of Florence in the class of "Music and New Technologies". He graduated with a mark of 110 cum laude both in the three-year and two-year periods with two experimental theses; the first sees the creation of an electromagnetic transducer capable of transforming surfaces into speakers; with this transducer he realizes the composition "Colori e Linee" for classical guitar amplified by a gong and an orchestral timpano. For the thesis of the specialistic two-year period he creates his first interactive installation, "Little Trip", a dark room with 512 LEDs and a 6-channel spatialization system that create an immersive environment that interacts with the users. After he takes a class at the master's degree in Interaction Design at SUPSI in Lugano. |
As a musician he performs on various stages both as an acoustic and electroacoutic player with solo projects and in various ensembles.
In 2023 he realised his first photographic exhibition 'Minimum Geographies', presented at MUMAT, Museum of Textile Machinery in Vernio.
In 2023 he is selected and participates in the artist residency program “The Secret Garden” at the Tenuta dello scompiglio, Lucca, Italy, curated by Cecilia Bertoni and Angel Moya Garcia.
He creates and performs "Indistinto" : an electroacoustic performance that blends sax and trumpet sounds with electronic instruments and field recordings on the venue itself. The structure of the composition has been created by the venue characteristics.
In collaboration with Francesco Michi and Mechi Cena he creates “Meditazioni su Onde Marine”: an installation based on the work of the composer Albert Mayr, on the possibility to show the musical rhythm of the sea waves.
In 2022 he creates “The firefly pathway”, commissioned by the festival “L’arena delle balle di paglia” in Cotignola.
The artwork will uses hundreds of ceramic modules (local material) played with an electromagnetic percussion, as single notes of a ceramic xylophone. Each module is arranged on a path through the trees; every time a note is played a little led light pulses. This creates a night landscape, an oniric pathway.
In 2022 he creates with the video artist Lisa Cantini Attraverso/Through for Italian Culture Institute of Melbourne: this is a multimedia artwork/concert for sax, clarinet and other instruments and sound objects creating complex sound environments through a self programmed software. The audio reactive video response to sound, mixing clips obtained scrolling the camera lens over different materials and objects.
This creates a constantly changing audiovisual environment where the audience is invited to a contemplative/meditative fruition.
Since 2021 he is art director and founder of PArS – Percorsi d’Arte Sonora, a cultural association for the research and production around the sonic arts.
For the “RIVA project” of MAD Murate Art District in Florence he is one of the interpreters of “Riva – Along the corona” by Kirsten Stromberg: 4 graphic scores created from the plants living on the banks of Arno river.
In duo with Francesco Massaro he play sax, clarinet and live electronics in the performance “Double exposure”, which becomes a record published by Amirani Records. Live concerts in Italy, Prague, Wien and others.
He started the project "In Continuità" in collaboration with Francesco Massaro: the project is a study on how places, venues, natural and human architectures can redefine improvisational music.
He wins the call and participate to Biennale di Venezia BiannaleCollegeMusica, in collaboration with the video artist Roberto Cassano presenting “Habitat”, an audiovisual artwork for tenor sax, live electronics and sound reactive video.
In 2020 he wins the call “N-Luoghi” by Macerata University; for this project he creates “Leave a Message”, an interactive sound sculpture which collects the voices of who wants to share a thought and with this voices creates an immersive soundscape; an installation on the responsibility of building one’s own environment collectively.
In 2019 he is the curator and performer (with Donato Epiro, Gaspare Sammartano and Vincenzo Procino) of the Italian premiere of John Cage's performance "Reunion", made with Francesco Michi and Maurizio Montini for "FKL symposium - Soundscapes and work of play".
In 2019 he created, with the illustrator Anita Barghigiani "The sound machines": an immersive journey with sound installations and interactive scenography for children presented for the "Firenze dei Bambini 2019" festival.
In 2018 he won the price for the residency program offered by ToscanainContemporanea2018 for Chongqing, China.
During the one-month residency he realizes "Matter, Vibration, Space”, a performance on the research on matter through sound, where, playing with a double-bass bow and with various swingers, two plates, one of metal and the other of wood, creates, through live electronics (Max / MSP), complex sound environments.
The piece was presented at the Dimensions Art Center in Chongqing.
He realizes "Rain Drop": a site specific public art installation, created in the village of LiuYin, in the rural area outside Chongqing; the installation uses local materials, bamboo canes that support hand-made gray earth tiles. Through a bamboo structure on each tile water is made to drip, with the possibility of adjusting the rhythm of each drop. The path created by sound canes, constantly polyrhythmic and dynamic, is located on a small road that leads to the entrance of a Buddhist temple, an invitation to meditation. The installation was created on the occasion of the workshop organized by the Sichuan Fine Art Institute and the Rural Research Academy of Chongqing where the artist participated as a "mentor" together with the Japanese artist Onoda Kenzo.
For the Tempo Reale center he realizes the interpretation of the composition by Giuseppe Chiari “La luce”, for electronic sounds and eight halogen bulbs; the sound and light composition is controlled through Max / Msp. Made specifically for the Studio Savioli spaces, for the Secret Florence Festival.
From 2017 he collaborates with the Tempo Reale research center for shows presented, among others, at the 2017 Venice Biennale and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in production and programming in Max and Max for Live.
In 2018 he creates "Nidi": a series of three igloo-shaped installations, each of a different material (paper, metal, wood), where eight transducers create a small multi-directional environment. The public can experience the installation by entering the small, intimate space of the work and finding a profound perception of sound and material. The "Nidi" were presented for "Firenze dei Bambini 2018" at the Murate Contemporary Art Projects, in collaboration with the illustrator and scenographer Anita Barghigiani. These three installations are places for contemplation, the highest level of human interaction.
One of the three installations remains on permanent display at the Le Murate PAC center in Florence.
In 2016 he won the call for the "RIVA Project", the association MUS.E and Murate Progetti Arte Contemporanea of Florence with the work "Vivente": an installation specifically designed for the spaces of the Murate complex, where 128 canes of bamboo sound like organ pipes and like marimba, controlled by a stochastic engine management algorithm, written in Max / MSP; the canes are suspended, scattered in the exhibition space and the audience is invited to cross it, in an immersive experience that transforms the space of the former prisons into a space of emotional and spiritual involvement.
From 2015 he plays with musicians and composers Maurizio Montini and Andrea Venturoli, in the 3D3 trio, creating immersive three-dimensional compositions for acoustic instruments and synthesizers, with various dates in Italy. In the trio he uses and renews his software for creating live three-dimensional sound environments.
In 2013 he creates the installation "Inner waving" where eight water tanks transformed into loudspeakers show the sounds on a visual level, creating complex and meditative environments.
The installation was presented at the National Sound Archives, in Mexico City.
Later the same installation was presented in other occasions: STOFF (Stockholm Fringe Festival, Stockholm), Semi-Octagon of the Murate in Florence, COMBAT Price (Fortezza Vecchia, Livorno).
In collaboration with the multi-instrumentalist Luca DiVolo, the pianist Luisa Carpignano and the scenographer Anita Barghigiani he creates and plays the performance "Real Virtuality", for guitar, saxophone, piano and interactive sets; the performance was presented at the "Sands of Time" festival in Florence in 2012.
In 2010 he was involved in the "John Cage: Musica Esposta" event, in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence;
for the occasion he realized with Alessandra Panerai a reinterpretation of the piece "Cartridge Music" for theremin and live electronics.
In 2008 his transducer was used by the famous composer and artist Daniele Lombardi to transmit the sound of the piano to brass plates, in the piece "Le son de ténèbres", made for the artist Roberto Ciaccio's exhibition, at the palazzo fontana of Trevi in Rome.
In 2023 he realised his first photographic exhibition 'Minimum Geographies', presented at MUMAT, Museum of Textile Machinery in Vernio.
In 2023 he is selected and participates in the artist residency program “The Secret Garden” at the Tenuta dello scompiglio, Lucca, Italy, curated by Cecilia Bertoni and Angel Moya Garcia.
He creates and performs "Indistinto" : an electroacoustic performance that blends sax and trumpet sounds with electronic instruments and field recordings on the venue itself. The structure of the composition has been created by the venue characteristics.
In collaboration with Francesco Michi and Mechi Cena he creates “Meditazioni su Onde Marine”: an installation based on the work of the composer Albert Mayr, on the possibility to show the musical rhythm of the sea waves.
In 2022 he creates “The firefly pathway”, commissioned by the festival “L’arena delle balle di paglia” in Cotignola.
The artwork will uses hundreds of ceramic modules (local material) played with an electromagnetic percussion, as single notes of a ceramic xylophone. Each module is arranged on a path through the trees; every time a note is played a little led light pulses. This creates a night landscape, an oniric pathway.
In 2022 he creates with the video artist Lisa Cantini Attraverso/Through for Italian Culture Institute of Melbourne: this is a multimedia artwork/concert for sax, clarinet and other instruments and sound objects creating complex sound environments through a self programmed software. The audio reactive video response to sound, mixing clips obtained scrolling the camera lens over different materials and objects.
This creates a constantly changing audiovisual environment where the audience is invited to a contemplative/meditative fruition.
Since 2021 he is art director and founder of PArS – Percorsi d’Arte Sonora, a cultural association for the research and production around the sonic arts.
For the “RIVA project” of MAD Murate Art District in Florence he is one of the interpreters of “Riva – Along the corona” by Kirsten Stromberg: 4 graphic scores created from the plants living on the banks of Arno river.
In duo with Francesco Massaro he play sax, clarinet and live electronics in the performance “Double exposure”, which becomes a record published by Amirani Records. Live concerts in Italy, Prague, Wien and others.
He started the project "In Continuità" in collaboration with Francesco Massaro: the project is a study on how places, venues, natural and human architectures can redefine improvisational music.
He wins the call and participate to Biennale di Venezia BiannaleCollegeMusica, in collaboration with the video artist Roberto Cassano presenting “Habitat”, an audiovisual artwork for tenor sax, live electronics and sound reactive video.
In 2020 he wins the call “N-Luoghi” by Macerata University; for this project he creates “Leave a Message”, an interactive sound sculpture which collects the voices of who wants to share a thought and with this voices creates an immersive soundscape; an installation on the responsibility of building one’s own environment collectively.
In 2019 he is the curator and performer (with Donato Epiro, Gaspare Sammartano and Vincenzo Procino) of the Italian premiere of John Cage's performance "Reunion", made with Francesco Michi and Maurizio Montini for "FKL symposium - Soundscapes and work of play".
In 2019 he created, with the illustrator Anita Barghigiani "The sound machines": an immersive journey with sound installations and interactive scenography for children presented for the "Firenze dei Bambini 2019" festival.
In 2018 he won the price for the residency program offered by ToscanainContemporanea2018 for Chongqing, China.
During the one-month residency he realizes "Matter, Vibration, Space”, a performance on the research on matter through sound, where, playing with a double-bass bow and with various swingers, two plates, one of metal and the other of wood, creates, through live electronics (Max / MSP), complex sound environments.
The piece was presented at the Dimensions Art Center in Chongqing.
He realizes "Rain Drop": a site specific public art installation, created in the village of LiuYin, in the rural area outside Chongqing; the installation uses local materials, bamboo canes that support hand-made gray earth tiles. Through a bamboo structure on each tile water is made to drip, with the possibility of adjusting the rhythm of each drop. The path created by sound canes, constantly polyrhythmic and dynamic, is located on a small road that leads to the entrance of a Buddhist temple, an invitation to meditation. The installation was created on the occasion of the workshop organized by the Sichuan Fine Art Institute and the Rural Research Academy of Chongqing where the artist participated as a "mentor" together with the Japanese artist Onoda Kenzo.
For the Tempo Reale center he realizes the interpretation of the composition by Giuseppe Chiari “La luce”, for electronic sounds and eight halogen bulbs; the sound and light composition is controlled through Max / Msp. Made specifically for the Studio Savioli spaces, for the Secret Florence Festival.
From 2017 he collaborates with the Tempo Reale research center for shows presented, among others, at the 2017 Venice Biennale and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in production and programming in Max and Max for Live.
In 2018 he creates "Nidi": a series of three igloo-shaped installations, each of a different material (paper, metal, wood), where eight transducers create a small multi-directional environment. The public can experience the installation by entering the small, intimate space of the work and finding a profound perception of sound and material. The "Nidi" were presented for "Firenze dei Bambini 2018" at the Murate Contemporary Art Projects, in collaboration with the illustrator and scenographer Anita Barghigiani. These three installations are places for contemplation, the highest level of human interaction.
One of the three installations remains on permanent display at the Le Murate PAC center in Florence.
In 2016 he won the call for the "RIVA Project", the association MUS.E and Murate Progetti Arte Contemporanea of Florence with the work "Vivente": an installation specifically designed for the spaces of the Murate complex, where 128 canes of bamboo sound like organ pipes and like marimba, controlled by a stochastic engine management algorithm, written in Max / MSP; the canes are suspended, scattered in the exhibition space and the audience is invited to cross it, in an immersive experience that transforms the space of the former prisons into a space of emotional and spiritual involvement.
From 2015 he plays with musicians and composers Maurizio Montini and Andrea Venturoli, in the 3D3 trio, creating immersive three-dimensional compositions for acoustic instruments and synthesizers, with various dates in Italy. In the trio he uses and renews his software for creating live three-dimensional sound environments.
In 2013 he creates the installation "Inner waving" where eight water tanks transformed into loudspeakers show the sounds on a visual level, creating complex and meditative environments.
The installation was presented at the National Sound Archives, in Mexico City.
Later the same installation was presented in other occasions: STOFF (Stockholm Fringe Festival, Stockholm), Semi-Octagon of the Murate in Florence, COMBAT Price (Fortezza Vecchia, Livorno).
In collaboration with the multi-instrumentalist Luca DiVolo, the pianist Luisa Carpignano and the scenographer Anita Barghigiani he creates and plays the performance "Real Virtuality", for guitar, saxophone, piano and interactive sets; the performance was presented at the "Sands of Time" festival in Florence in 2012.
In 2010 he was involved in the "John Cage: Musica Esposta" event, in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence;
for the occasion he realized with Alessandra Panerai a reinterpretation of the piece "Cartridge Music" for theremin and live electronics.
In 2008 his transducer was used by the famous composer and artist Daniele Lombardi to transmit the sound of the piano to brass plates, in the piece "Le son de ténèbres", made for the artist Roberto Ciaccio's exhibition, at the palazzo fontana of Trevi in Rome.