Dinu Ghezzo

Dinu Ghezzo (1941 - December 10, 2011) was a Romanian conductor who was director of the Composition Studies at New York University.^[1]

Biography

Ghezzo received his education in conducting, music education and in composition at the Romanian Conservatory in Bucharest (1964 & 1966), and subsequently earned a PhD. in composition at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1973. He had a thirty-two years career at New York University, as a professor of music and director of the Composition Studies. Dr. Ghezzo remained as a Professor Emeritus at New York University, also teaching at Lehman College (CUNY). Much involved in national and international music projects, he was founder and president of ICIA Inc. (International Composers and Interactive Artists), founder and director of the INMC Inc. (International Music Consortium), the Assisi International Music Days, among others. He is also the past director or president of the following organizations: ANMC Inc., Todi International Music Days, Gubbio Festival, Molfetta Festival, CIPAM Festival in Montevarchi (Italy), Andalusian International Music Days, Musica Nueva Malaga Festival (Spain), Constanta International Music Days, The Week of Romanian American Music in Oradea, Romania, and others.

Maestro Ghezzo has conducted the NYU Orchestra, the Washington Square Orchestra, the Black Sea Symphony (ac. Constanta Symphony), Oradea Filharmonic, Timisoara Symphony Orchestra and the Bucharest Music Academy, etc. He is founder and co-director with Leo Kraft of the New York Repertory Ensemble, and founder and co-director with Jack Kreiselman of the NYU Contemporary Players.

Honors and awards

Ghezzo is a recipient of a Honorary Doctorate from Ovidius University, Constanta (Romania), and of many awards, prizes, residences, and commissions, including: Fulbright Senior Scholar (2006), visiting composer at the American Academy in Rome, recipient of Commander Medal, for faithful Service from the Romanian Presidency (2000), composer-in-residence at Dresden Festival and guest composer at the Berlin Hochschuel der Kunste (Germany), at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Belgium, at the Hungarian Arts and Letters Academy in Budapest, at the Jerusalem Music Academy (Israel) and at the Music Academy in Krakow (Poland), CAPS Award - New York, George Enescu Awards, ASCAP Awards, NYSCA and NEA Grants, leading international ensembles and soloists, and residencies as guest composer, conductor and performer.

He has performed at many prominent music venues, including: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Monday Evening Concert in Los Angeles, and many other international festivals and venues.

Recordings

His compositions are featured on several Orion Master Recording albums, on several Capstone Records, on INNova, Ariel Records, as well as on TGE Switzerland, (Tirreno Gruppo Editoriale), WDR Cologne, Helsinki Radio, Raum Klang (Bayerischer Rundfunk) and Grenadilla label.

His music is published by Editions Salabert of Paris, by Musica Scritta, the AIM Press (Italy), TGE (Milan, Rome), the Calabrese Brothers and by Seesaw Music Corporation and Subito Publishers, New York. He serves on many national and international board of directors and juries such as The Pierre Schaeffer Composition Competition, Georges Enesco Competition, INMC Inc, etc.

Teaching at NYU

As a passionate educator and inspired conductor, Dr. Ghezzo's conducting classes were imbued with a distinct, unique appreciation for music. An avid collector of many recording versions of the same piece, his iPod (which would often misbehave and cue up the wrong tracks 5-10 seconds in) was rife with several live performances, highlighting his attentive, enthusiastic nature and ear for musical subtleties; he usually preferred those of the Berliner Philharmonic under the baton of Karajan. Although said technical difficulties were abundant and disorienting, the dedicated Ghezzo would often sing the particular measure's correct melody all from memory thereby enabling students to follow along. Dinu would regularly be overheard vigorously coercing his pupils to express themselves in their conducting, causing many to find themselves musically. Some favored expressions and sayings that he'd shout with gusto were "And you cue!", "The piccolos are late!", "Too much expression!", "Your (instrumentalist) will be lost in the trees!", "Where's the beat?!", "Listen for the horns!", "MORE!", "Don't overdo it!" and variations thereof. He apparently was never overly fond of Wagner's opera "The Flying Dutchman", but his love of Stravinsky was palpable. When necessary, Dr. Ghezzo sacrificed sleep to ensure that his conducting classes proceeded as usual and showed up weekly with the stamina of a man half his age. He often would spout colorful anecdotes about conducting orchestras all over Europe as well as embarrassingly comical tales about several famous conductors' temperaments and failures. Always concerned about the well-being of his students, Dr. Ghezzo would encourage them to remove any extraneous articles of clothing that may cause perspiration, an especially harmful scenario in cold outdoor temperatures. A devoted musician and mentor, Dr. Ghezzo's classes were relished by all who were lucky enough to have been taught by such a master of the art.

References

• NYU Faculty bio
• INMC

Biographical entries in Baker Music Dictionary, the Geschichte und Gegenwart, Who’s Who in Music, J. Machlis Contemporary Composers, etc.