Enrico Ruggieri

Music has always been a big part of my life since I was 6 years old.

I grew up playing piano, classical and jazz. During the day I studied Bach and Mozart and at night I played my own music in clubs. I joined my first choir when I was 12. At 17 I conducted for the first time. That experience was life changing and led me to professional conducting.

The continuation of my studies brought me from my hometown, Pescara, to Rome, then to Bologna and later to The Netherlands. There I explored my passion for early music, with special attention to the sacred choral music. The research became an important part of my practice, specifically the re-discovering of forgotten repertoire. I like finding unpublished music sources, evaluating them, transcribing them and performing the music in concerts.

As in my youth, travelling through genres remains one of my favourite practices. Curiosity about unknown and “not-well-known” music of any era or style drives many of my concerts’ programs and projects.

However, what really drives me in my work are people. Their instrument is the voice as well as their emotion, their beliefs, their expectations. Making music is channelling this energy into the best performance we can have, with respect and sharing. When the conductor gesture is not only leading but enabling the flow of music linked into emotions, that is the golden moment of unity between choir and conductor. That is what I strive for.

Over the years of my conducting career I’ve developed some beliefs that underline my work. Fun is as important as intonation. Right music for the right group. Music style as a means to truth in performance. Attentive rehearsal results in performance in one breath. This is how I approach my rehearsals with my weekly choirs as well as projects with choirs and professional ensembles.

In 2020 I decided to stop as a professional conductor. I developed a new passion for IT and programming in particular. It was so overwhelming that, after a quick year of training, it projected me to a new professional chapter of my life.

This new reality, instead of diminishing or downscaling my enthusiasm for music making, amplified greatly. It gave me room to focus on what I like and to dive deeper on it, adding quality and effectiveness to my conducting skills and music sensitivity.