Marco Cerocchi, born in Italy in 1972, accomplished his musical
studies at the Italian Statal Conservatory of Music, graduating with
10/10 Summa Cum Laude and winning a scholarship for academic merits
under the tuition of Maja Samargieva. In the same Institute, he
attended the annual course of chamber music with Laura Manzini, the seminary Aspects
of pianistic music of F. Chopin directed by Sergio Cafaro and he
also accomplished the two years (post-diploma) of teaching apprenticeship at
the Concervatory.
Cerocchi took part, as
an active pupil, in many master classes held by world wide
famous pianists, among which we can remember:
At the Accademia “ Jacopo Napoli “in Cava de’ Tirreni (Costiera
Amalfìtana ) by Maja Samargieva, where He played within the” Le Corti
dell’Arte” Festival obtaining the diploma for artistic merits.
At the” Campus Internazionale di Musica” in Sermoneta during the “XXXII
Festival Pontino” by Charles Rosen.
At the Association “Amici della Musica” in Florence by Joaquin Achucarro (academic
ad honorem at the “Accademia Chigiana di Siena”).
At the
“Accademia Filarmonica” in Bologna by Massimiliano
Damerini.
At the international “Arts Academy” in Rome by Bruno Canino.
Since his
graduation in 1995, Cerocchi’s piano-soloist activity has allowed him to play recitals in Italy and in other
international capitals; some of the most important events:
In 1996, he took part in the “National Pianistic Review” by Palazzo
Labia in Venezia, with
the High Patronage of the Republic President and of the Gran Teatro “La
Fenice”; annual event, reserved to the best piano players from all the italian
Music Academies who graduated the previous year scoring 10/10 cum laude.
In 1998, in which Stockholm (Sweden) was chosen as European Capital of Culture, he played
at the prestigious Cathedral of the swedish capital in the “Sommar i
Storkyrkan” Festival, as welI as, in the Auditorium of the Italienska
Kulturinstitutet “C.M. Lerici” within the cultural events promoted by the same
Institute. The same year, he was invited by the “Finland-Italy RY” Cultural
Association to play in Helsinki (Finland)
in the Auditorium Temppelinaukio.
He also performed in Bucharest
(Romania) at the National
Museum of Music “George Enescu”; in Sophia
(Bulgaria) at the Residence of the Italian
Embassy, in a cultural event promoted in collaboration with the National
Gallery of Arts of Bulgaria.
In a tour in Denmark, he played at the Auditorium of the Italian
Cultural Institute in Copenhagen and at the Department of Music
at the Aarhus University, in collaboration with the Dante
Alighieri Society.
In a tour in South America, he played in Quito (Ecuador) a
piano recital at the “Las Camaras” Hall and he also presented a lecture
regarding Domenico Zipoli at the National Conservatory of the capital.
In Asunciòn (Paraguay), at the “Salòn de Honor” of the
prestigious Centenario Club, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy,
in the Festa d’Italia 2001 event.
He also presented two lectures regarding Domenico Zipoli
for the “Dante Alighieri” Association and had an interview at the Nandutì
National Radio Broadcasting 107.7 Fm-Concertos, in which they broadcasted
some of Cerocchi’s performances; in La Paz (Bolivia), a
piano-recital in the Palacio Chico, headquarter of the Vice-Ministry of
Culture.
Aside from his
artistic activity, since 1996 Cerocchi
also studied Modern Literatures
(Music History group), at La Sapienza - University of Rome,
in which he graduated in 2001, with 110/110 Summa Cum Laude.
In 1998, thanks to the European Socrates scholarship, he also
attended the Stockholms Universitet (Sweden) for two semesters.
In 2001, he was awarded a teaching assistantship and the admission to
the Master’s program at the Florida State University, where he
was awarded the Winthrop-King scholarship for teaching and academic
merits, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2002 (GPA 4:00).
In 2002, he was awarded
a teaching assistantship and the admission to the Ph.D. program at Rutgers
- The State University of New Jersey. Graduation is expected soon;
thesis: “Da trasgressione pericolosa a perfezione assoluta e altissima virtù:
la radicale trasformazione del concetto di ‘musica profana’ nella letteratura
italiana tra il Medioevo e il Rinascimento”.
Cerocchi has also
delivered papers at several Conferences within United States:
The tenth Annual International Graduate Conference, Boston College; the 28th Annual Conference at Florida State University;
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Arizona State University;
the 9th
Annual Carolina Conference at the University
of North Carolina - Chapel Hill; the annual Conference held by
the A.A.I.S. (The American Association of Italian Studies), Georgetown
University - Washington D.C. (in 2003), and at the University of Ottawa
– Canada (in 2004); the 11th Triennial Congress of the International
Courtly Society, University of Wisconsin; the 58th Convention held
by the R.M.M.L.A., University of Colorado; the 120th
annual Convention held by the M.L.A. , Convention Center Philadelphia.
His selected academic publications include:
“Giovanni
Boccaccio: The Decameron as a primary literary source for the musical
movement of Ars Nova in Italy.” Italica, the official journal of
the American Association of Teachers of Italian (A.A.T.I.); forthcoming in the
Winter 2006 issue.
“Baldesar
Castiglione and The Book of the Courtier; being a musician the Courtier may
achieve his highest goal: the balance and harmony of spirit.” Proceedings Volume of the 11th
Congress of the International Courtly Society; Boydell and Brewer,
forthcoming in Winter 2006.
In 2005, Cerocchi has been
appointed to the Department of French & Italian Studies at Princeton
University.