Mario Fragiacomo, tromba, flicorno, composizione.
Nato a Trieste da chiare ascendenti istriane, inizia privatamente lo studio della musica all’età di nove anni frequentando la scuola della banda del ricreatorio comunale Guido Brunner di Trieste. Subito dopo si iscrive alla Scuola di tromba del Conservatorio di musica G. Tartini di Trieste e studia con il maestro Dino Sandri. A Milano perfeziona i suoi studi con il maestro Giorgio Gaslini presso il Conservatorio G. Verdi di Milano e alla Nuova Milano Musica con Sergio Fanni. Partecipa a diversi seminari di studio, tra i quali rivestono significativa importanza alcuni condotti da Evan Parker e Andrea Centazzo a San Marcello Pistoiese e recentemente una serie di Masterclass con Gabriele Cassone nell'ambito del Conservatorio Guido Cantelli di Novara e con i trombettisti americani Adam Rapa e Ralph Alessi.
Si è messo presto in luce, fin dagli anni '70, prima a Trieste con il gruppo del pianista Silvio Donati e con il "Trieste Jazz Ensemble" e poi a Milano, dove tutt'ora vive e lavora, identificandosi come una delle voci più impegnate sul versante del sincretismo tra jazz, musica accademica e tradizioni popolari dell’est Europa anche grazie alla collaboazione con prestigiosi musicisti e personaggi di varia natura quali, tra gli altri, Markus Stockhausen, John Tchicai, Moni Ovadia, Fulvio Tomizza, Daniele Abbado, Enrico Baj, Bruno Chersicla, Luigi Donorà, Abdulah Sidran, Darko Jurkovic e Murray Lachlan Young.
Ma soprattutto con la creazione a Milano di due valorosi gruppi come il "Jazz Quatter Quartet" e il "Mitteleuropa Ensemble" si è mosso nell'ambito della rielaborazione in chiave jazzistica sia del mondo della musica Klezmer, sia di quello più ampio della Mitteleuropa intesa come luogo culturale posto al crocevia tra Oriente e Occidente, con particolare riferimento al mondo balcanico, ritagliandosi uno spazio originale nell'odierno panorama musicale italiano poichè presenta un tipo di repertorio di frontiera che, a livello nazionale, è decisamente poco battuto, come testimoniano album quali Trieste, ieri un secolo fa del 1988, Mitteleuropa del 1990, Latitudine Est del 1994, sino al più recente Balkan Project oltre ad un'intensa attività concertistica.
Le sue articolate proposte musicali lo hanno identificato come un musicista duttile, che ha nel jazz soltanto un punto di riferimento e non l'unico fulcro della sua formazione tant'è che agisce anche nel campo della multimedialità, in particolare nell'incontro tra musica e letteratura, tra improvvisazione e poesia, e tra i diversi progetti realizzati, una speciale menzione spetta a Versi in Jazz, premiato con la Targa Mazars - Edizione 2002 dell'Università Bocconi di Milano.
Apprezzato dalla critica italiana come testimoniano centinaia di recensioni ed interviste apparse sulle più importanti riviste specializzate e quotidiani nazionali ed esteri. Come saggista ha pubblicato su diverse riviste specializzate di musica.

 

ENGLISH VERSION

Mario Fragiacomo trumpetist, flugelhornist, composer was born in Trieste (Italy) he was from clear istrian rising up. He started studying music privately when he was 9 years old attending school at recreational music institute's band Guido Brunner of Trieste afterwards he enrolled music Conservatory G. Tartini trumpet School and studied with Dino Sandri maestro.

He improved in Milan with Giorgio Gaslini master at G. Verdi Conservatory and at Nuova Milano Musica with Sergio Fanni. He took part at several seminar studies of which much important some conducted by Evan Parker and Andrea Centazzo in San Marcello Pistoiese and recently sequences of masterclass with Gabriele Cassone at the Guido Cantelli Novara's Conservatory and with the american trumpetists Adam Rapa and Ralph Alessi.

Since 70's he revealed himself performing with pianist Silvio Donati and Trieste Jazz Ensemble and then in Milan, where still works and living, revealing himself as one of the more pledged voices on the syncretism side between jazz, academic music and east Europe's popular tradition, thanking prestigious people collaboration of various kind, besides Markus Stockhausen, John Tchicai, Moni Ovadia, Fulvio Tomizza, Daniele Abbado, Enrico Baj, Bruno Chersicla, Luigi Donorà, Abdulah Sidran, Darko Jurkovic e Murray Lachlan Young. But above all with the creation in Milan of two valorous groups like the "Jazz Quatter Quartet" and "Mitteleuropa Ensemble" he removed sphere of rielaboration in jazz music key in the Klezmer music world, wether side of Mittle Europe intended as cultural place suited as crossing between oriental and western culture with a particular reference at balcanic world, taking an original place in the modern italian's musical background because he presents a type frontier repertory that national speaking it is a very unexplored, like they testified with the 1988 "Trieste, ieri un secolo fa", "Latitudine Est" and the must recent "Balkan Project" albums beside and intense concert activities.

His articulate music proposal identified him as a ductile musician, who has in Jazz only a reference point and not the only fulcrum of his education so much that he also acts in the multimediality field, in particular in music and literature meeting, between improvisation and poetry. He has also coordinated many multimedia projects, cooperating with actors, poets, dancers, painters, etc., and has written musics for videos and theatre pièces and between the different project realised a worth mention in "Versi in Jazz", with Targa Mazars - edition 2002 awarded Bocconi University's Milan and for the theatre pièce "Michelstaedter - Biografia di un pensiero furioso" for the National Theater of Rijeka (Croatia).

He has been guest in orchestras such as "Grande Orchestra Nazionale di Jazz Italiana" conducted by Bruno Tommaso, and as "Brig-Aan Big band" from Arcore Jazz Club.

Apreciated by italian critic as testified over hundred reviews and interviews appeared (published) on the most important specialized reviews and national and foreign daily newspapers.
Like essayist he has published on special music specialized magazines.

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Composizioni (compositions)

1983
- HABITAT (for quartet)
for: bariton sax, trumpet, double bass percussion

1985
- SCHERZO (for quartet)
for: bariton sax, trumpet, double bass, percussion

1987
- IL CAMPO PROFUGHI - Le baracche di Padriciano (for sextet)
for: 2 soprano voices, piano, trumpet, double bass, percussion
(Italian text from a traditional liturgical chant)

- T.L.T. - TERRITORIO LIBERO DI TRIESTE (for quintet)
for: trumpet, bariton sax, piano, double bass, percussion

- CARSO - Emma Tomazic, la slava (for quintet)
for: trumpet, alto sax, piano, double bass, percussion

- RISIERA DI SAN SABBA - L'ucraino Ivan Demjanjuk (for octet)
for: 2 soprano voices, 3 speakers, trumpet, double bass, percussion

- RICORDO DI ETTORE SCHMITZ (for quintet)
for: soprano voice, trumpet, piano, double bass, percussion
(English text by Diane Rama)

- FOIBE (for quintet)
for: trumpet, 2 trombones, alto sax, tenor sax

1989
- MITTELEUROPA (for quartet)
for: trumpet, piano, double bass, percussion

1990
- COSMOPOLITISMO (for quintet and 4 speakers)
for: flute, trumpet, piano, double bass, percussion and 4 speakers
(Englis text by Thomas Stearns Eliot - French text by Jacques Prévert - German text by Nikolaus Lenau)

- FAUST - Frammento (for quartet)
for: trumpet, piano, double bass, percussion

1992
- HOHO' TRIESTE, del si del da del ja (for sextet)
for: speaker, flugelhorn, piano, soprano voice, double bass, percussion
(Dialect text from Trieste by Carolus L. Cergoly)

- COLORI DEL TEMPO - Fuma el camin (for sextet and magnetic tape)
for: speaker, bass-flute, piano, trumpet, double bass, percussion, magnetic tape
(Dialect text from Trieste by Carolus L. Cergoly)

- AMERIKA (for quintet)
for: flugelhorn, piano, bariton sax, double bass, percussion

- WITZ ODER BLITZ (for tentet)
for: 5 voices, piano, flugelhorn, bariton sax, double bass, percussion
(German text by unknown author)

1998
- FRANZISKA (for sextet)
for: soprano voice, piano, trumpet, trombone, double bass, drums

2001
- ZHOK EXPERIMENTAL HORA (for sextet)
for: soprano voice, piano, flugelhorn, alto sax, double bass, drums

2006
- TRACCIA (for duo)
for: piano, flugelhorn

2007
- FORSE UN GIORNO SI RACCONTERA' DI UN POPOLO ... (for chamber quartet)
for: soprano voice, piano, flugelhorn, speaker voice

2010
- MICHELSTAEDTER SOUND (for quintet theater pièce)

Arrangiamenti (Arrangement)

1988
- ALTE KAMERADEN (for big band)
- JUBELMARSCH FRANZ JOSEF I (for piano)
- TRIESTE MIA (for voice and piano)
- MARINARESCA (for voice and piano)
- ETERNO RITORNELLO (for quintet)

1989
- DANUBIO (for sextet)

1990
- DALL'ALTRA PARTE: EST (for octet)
- LA RIGENERAZIONE (for octet)
- AFORISMI NIETZSCHIANI (for quintet)
- TRANSSILVANISMUS (for quintet)
- ZIO OTTONE, NONNA ANKA (for quintet)
- GIGERL MARSCH (for quintet)

1992
- WEN DER REBBE (for octet)
- DEM GANEFS YICHES (for octet)
- DER SHTILER BULGAR - SUITE (for sextet)
- SURABAYA JOHNNY (for septet)

2001
- ALE BRIDER (for sextet)
- ASHKENAZIM TIME (for sextet)
- DIONISIUS (for quartet)

2010
- WIEN BLEIBT WIEN (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- LE ONDE DEL DANUBIO (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- TANTS YIDELEKH (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- HOHO' TRIESTE (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- FRANZISKA (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- FORSE UN GIORNO ... (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- DEM GANEFS YICHES (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)
- HALICHA L'KESARIA (for quintet Michelstaedter theatrical pièce)