FLORIAN CONZETTI

Percussionist, director, and educator Florian Conzetti delivers profound musical experiences through a uniquely integrated approach and highly expressive style that is both cerebral and deeply embodied. Equally balanced in his ability to highlight exacting detail and larger structure or content, whether it be in concert or the classroom, Conzetti has built a world-class reputation for refined interpretation that has afforded him a range of exciting opportunities across continents. A “superb” talent (San Francisco Gate), with “great dexterity and rhythmic skill… Conzetti keeps fans in their seats… he is a wonder.” (The Oregonian) 

 

A highly regarded soloist and chamber musician, Conzetti’s appearances include performances at Music@Menlo, CalPerformances, Stanford Lively Arts, and the Astoria Music Festival, and as part of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players. He is the founder and Director of the Linfield Collaborative Music Ensemble, and the founder and former Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Northwest New Music. His extensive discography includes recordings on the Naxos, Innova, Albany, Other Minds, MSR Classics, and Music@Menlo LIVE labels. Conzetti is the principal timpanist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.​

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A sought-after educator and presenter, Conzetti is especially fascinated with the ways in which traditional and vernacular musical styles from around the world intersect, and focuses his research on the relationship between different cultures and the relevance of biographies, history, and power. He has given lectures at the University of California Berkeley, Stanford University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and at conferences of the College Music Society, American Musicological Society, and Society for Ethnomusicology. Conzetti is an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Activities at Linfield University, where he teaches music theory, history, world music, and percussion, and directs the Instrumental Performance Ensemble. His prior teaching includes positions at the Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, and Portland State University.

Conzetti holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory, where he was a student of marimbist Robert van Sice and musicologist John Spitzer. His dissertation deals with the influence of Balinese gamelan on Western composers. He also holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Konservatorium für Musik in Bern, Switzerland.​