artistic and musical director of the Ukho Ensemble Kyiv
former chief conductor of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra
It is by feeling the deep need for a constant dialogue between classical, contemporary, and ancient music that Luigi Gaggero, a native of Genoa, has led ensembles such as the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, the Ukho Ensemble (specialized in contemporary music), and the Baroque vocal ensemble La Dolce Maniera. With a deep passion for medieval painting; Dante and Cavalcanti; the cinema of Bergman and Tarr; Bach, Mozart, and Kurtág; Heidegger and Nietzsche, Luigi is drawn to artists who express the transcendent in art. His interpretations, based on the empathetic encounter between performer, composer, and audience, are moving and colorful.
During his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra (2019-2023), it quickly became one of the most respected musical ensembles in Ukraine and was the first Eastern European orchestra to establish a collaboration with the prestigious German agency KD Schmid. Luigi conducted the orchestra in major European concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Dresden Kulturpalast, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Wolkenturm in Grafenegg, and the Warsaw Philharmonic. These sold-out concerts received critical acclaim from the international press. In 2022, Luigi and the Kyiv Symphony were honored with an invitation to perform at the NATO summit in Madrid and received the "Musical Contest" Prize from the Fondation Prince Pierre of Monaco.
With his Ukho Ensemble, Luigi conducted three sold-out opera productions at the National Opera of Ukraine and recorded CDs dedicated to Gervasoni (Winter & Winter), Hosokawa and Andreyev (Kairos), and Solbiati (EMA Vinci Records). His innovative interpretations of Early Music with La Dolce Maniera are featured in two CDs dedicated to Monteverdi and Gesualdo (Stradivarius), praised for their vibrancy and emotional depth.
Before embarking on his conducting career, Luigi performed for 25 years as a cimbalom player and percussionist, collaborating with leading European orchestras and ensembles, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Filarmonica della Scala, Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, and Ensemble InterContemporain, under conductors such as Abbado, Barenboim, Boulez, Eötvös, Harnoncourt, Muti, Petrenko, and Rattle.
As a guest conductor and instrumentalist, Luigi has performed in prestigious venues and festivals across Europe, the United States, and China, including Carnegie Hall, the Salzburger Festspiele, BBC Proms, Biennale di Venezia, and Klangspuren. He has worked alongside artists such as Juliane Banse, Sandrine Cantoreggi, David Grimal, Barbara Hannigan, and András Keller.
Luigi Gaggero studied percussion and conducting with Andrea Pestalozza, who inspired his passion for 20th-century music, and cimbalom with Márta Fábián. He was the first percussionist to receive the Soloist Diploma with honors at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, under Edgar Guggeis and Rainer Seegers.
A dedicated pedagogue, Luigi is professor of cimbalom at the Conservatoire and Académie Supérieure de Musique in Strasbourg, where he founded and directed the Academy's Contemporary Music Ensemble. His publications include A Natural Gesture - Thoughts on Musical Praxis and Conducting (Wolke Verlag, 2023), and The Cimbalom - Reference Guide for Performers and Composers (2024). Luigi's love for cinema has inspired him to explore the connections between music, time, and the sacred in film. This passion culminated in his 2024 publication Between Heaven and Mud: Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr, the Sacred Time, a reflection on the themes of transcendence and immanence in the works of these two visionary directors.
www.luigigaggero.com
(XII 2024, Not to be altered without permission)