Massimiliano Frani is an Italian pianist, composer and music pedagogue. He is the founder of the project MET – Music Education Therapy and director of the Armoniæ Centro Internazionale di Musica e Cultura. He lives in Venice.
Frani has performed as soloist, with chamber music ensembles and with orchestras in Italy, the US, Japan, Germany, Canada and Hungary. His performances are described by critics as “spiritually resonant” and “high-class listening experience”. In addition, Frani conducted orchestras in several countries and worked with a high number of internationally renowned musicians. Among the most notable are Martin Jones, Hiroko Nakamura, Alexander Peskanov and Livia Rev. In collaboration with Paul Pollei, Jeffrey Shumway, and Mack Wilberg, Frani performed for many years as part of the American Piano Quartet. Frani has competed in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitionn and the Esther Honen’s International Piano Competition and has been a winner of multiple national piano competitions, including the Concorso Nazionale Pianistico Premio Venezia and the Concorso Nazionale Pianistico di Albenga. Since 1994 he has been a frequent judge in international piano competitions, such as the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the National Music Teachers Association Competition in Montreal and the Piano Teachers National Association Competition in Tokyo.
After graduation, Frani has served in various performing arts administration capacities. Main experiences include Associate Director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, in Salt Lake City ; Artistic Consultant for the International Piano Academy Lake Como dedicated to Martha Argerich, and Superintendent of the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico. Under Frani’s leadership each cultural organization has developed programming, outreach, and funding. During each respective assignment, each organizations achieved positive accomplishments: the Bachauer Foundation became the first piano foundation to host a 4-year cycle of international competitions; the International Piano Academy Lake Como opened its doors to the acclaimed Summer School; The Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico funded seasons which included Il Suono dell’Olimpico, productions from the Centre Chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne Compagnie Käfig, BdT Junior Company, Malandin Ballet Biarritz, Compagnie La Baraka and Ballet National Algerien, Mimulus Cia De Dança, Momix Dance Company, Ballet National de Marseille. The theater also held the first co-joined opera production with the Settimane Musicali dell’Olimpico and the Società del Quartetto, with numerous concerts presented by music’s pinnacle performers.
