Riccardo Donati was born in Pisa in 1965.
He studied piano and composition, and in 1989 he obtained his diploma in organ and organ composition, under the guidance of Elisa Luzi, with top marks from Conservatorio "L. Cherubini" in Florence.
From 1987 to 1990, he attended the specialisation courses in choir conducting organised by Associazione Italiana S. Cecilia with maestros Luigi Toya, Walter Marzilli and in church musicology with Don Valentino Donella, then he continued his in-depth studies into choir music with maestros Giovanni Acciai for Renaissance music and Pier Paolo Scattolin for early twentieth-century and contemporary music.
He attended the specialisation organ courses at Arenzano (GE) on "C. Franck and European organ Romanticism" held by M. Giancarlo Parodi. He specialised in orchestra conducting by attending the courses organised by Florence Sinphonietta under the guidance of maestro Piero Bellugi.
In 1978, at the age of 13, he was called to the Cathedral of Pisa as a second organist; in 1980, after the erection of the new, big, 4-keyboard "Mascioni" organ, he was appointed first organist.
Since 1992, he has been the choirmaster of the Cathedral of Pisa, where every Sunday he conducts music pieces during Mass. He performs concerts all over Italy, both as a solo organ player and as an accompanist harpsichord player for chamber music groups.
He cooperates with some important music institutions, such as "Maggio Musicale Fiorentino", where he performed, under the conduction of Zoltan Pesko, the oratorio for solos, choir, orchestra and organ obbligato, "Job" by Luigi Dallapiccola.
Between 1997 and 2000, with the choir, he took part in the choir contests of Tortona (special jury prize), Città di La Spezia (1st prize), Concorso Internazionale di Verona (1st prize), Città di Vittorio Veneto (2nd prize, as the jury decided not to award any first prize) and was awarded a special prize as the best conductor in the contest.
Since 2001, following the birth of the international sacred music festival in Pisa, he had the privilege of performing the opening concert with the choir.
With the choir, he has performed concerts in Great Britain, France and Germany, winning great praise from the public and press critics alike.
© 2004-2007 Opera della Primaziale Pisana - credits & copyright
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