LEO DE BONO
Leo de Bono is a very talented musician with whom we have always really
enjoyed working. We first met him in 1989 when we needed a pianist to play
pieces by Scriabin, Prokofiev, Debussy and Chopin for IRDP's productions of
'Frankenstein' and 'The Secret Agent'. We asked Alan Gibbs if he knew anybody
who could do it, and he very kindly asked at London's Royal College of Music on
our behalf. Leo was studying for an MA in Performance Studies at the time,
specialising in Scriabin, so he was perfect for the job. One very hot Sunday in
June of that year, we set up some recording equipment in the Swinburne Hall in
the Music department of Colchester Institute, where in spite of the heat, a very
creaky piano stool and a flock of noisy birds on the roof, Leo set to work on
the mammoth task of performing a large number of complicated pieces in just one
afternoon. He did a brilliant job.
We then discovered that Leo was also working on his own compositions and we
asked if he would be interested in composing some music for IRDP's production of
'Dracula'. He seemed to know instinctively what was needed, and came up with a
stunning piano composition which he recorded for us on a Steinway in the Recital
Room at Goldsmiths' College (University of London), where again he was cool in
the face of competition from a troupe of Chinese dancers rehearsing in the room
above, and somebody warbling songs from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in an
adjacent room. We were so impressed by his work that we commissioned him to
create a composition for IRDP's production of 'The Last Days of Oscar Wilde'.
Again he intuitively composed something unique, haunting and especially
appropriate for the subject. We are delighted with the results.
Leo de Bono won a Junior Exhibition to the Royal College of Music. He studied
Music at Durham University and then completed his Masters degree at the Royal
College, where he studied with Yonty Solomon and Irina Zaritskaya. He then won
an Italian government scholarship to study with Guido Agosti.
Leo has performed in many countries throughout the world - Italy, France,
Kenya, Israel, Yugoslavia, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, as well as the United
Kingdom - and his music has been heard by millions of people in the United
States on National Public Radio. He has given talks for IRDP workshops on the
art of writing music for radio drama, and often teaches and gives master
classes. In Kenya his series of concerts and master classes for gifted African
students was very warmly received. His musical talent and warm personality
combine to make his performances very special.
Together with the cellist, Simon Morris, Leo has recorded a CD of Romantic
and Virtuoso Pieces for Cello and Piano which is available on the English
Recording Company label, number ERC 5002. He is also currently working on more
recordings, as well as delighting audiences around London with his concerts. The
photo of Leo above was taken in the Recital Room at Goldsmiths' College,
University of London, during the recording of Leo's composition for 'Dracula'.
Leo is now soloist and conductor with the Beethoven Festival Orchestra.
If you would like to see profiles of other people we've worked with,
CLICK HERE.
home | links
| search | mail
IRDP website by Marja Giejgo
this web page is brought to you by:
