| Francesco Maggio (Von Mai) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nazionalità |  Germania Italia
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| Genere | contemporary, electronic, crossover |
VON MAI alias Francesco Maggio (b. 1986) is an Italian composer and artist, living and working in Stuttgart.
His music has been commissioned and performed by numerous institutions, including: the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Recherche, the Minguet Quartet, Vocalconsort Berlin, Quartetto Prometeo, Ensemble Prague Modern, DissonArt Ensemble, Contempoartensemble, Grupo de Musica Contemporanea de Lisboa.
His music is also programmed in major festivals and concert halls around the world, including: Carnegie Hall, Sibelius Academy, Teatro Dal Verme, Teatro Donizetti, Sala Accademica “Santa Cecilia”, National Museum of Finland, La Fabrika Praga, and Theaterhaus Stuttgart.
He has held numerous lectures on his art, and his writings and music are present in major libraries and research centers.
In addition to his artistic activities, he has held organizing positions at the Brinkhall Summer Concerts in Turku (Artistic Consultant), where he was also Artist in Residence from 2010 to 2012. In 2009, he co-founded the G.e.r.m.i. Association (Gruppo Europeo Ricerca Musicale Indipendente) in Rome, where he was responsible for the artistic programming of the Festival, the Competition, and the Call for Scores until 2012. In 2015, he co-founded SKAM (Stuttgarter Kollektiv für aktuelle Musik) in Germany with a collective of contemporary composers and artists. Between 2016 and 2019, he served as the artistic director of “Italien musiziert”, a chamber music season in Stuttgart. In 2019, he directed the “Italian Opera Days” showcase in Baku (Azerbaijan).
From 2024, his artworks will be signed under the pseudonym “Von Mai”.
His works range from painting to sculpture, including graphics and collages, addressing profound themes such as metamorphosis, peace, diversity, and ecology, inviting positivity through each individual creation. In VON MAI's works, every color is a sound, following the sound-color scale inspired by Scriabin and Kandinsky. Each hue represents an emotion, creating a harmonious connection between sound and color. Metamorphosis is the predominant theme in VON MAI's works, often represented through the cocoons of caterpillars, a symbol of the impending transformation into butterflies. Cyclicality is another recurring element, with the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, the butterfly resembling a musical rest, and the musical rest inviting reflection, creating an endless cycle of transformation and rebirth.