Davide Verotta studied music and piano in Milano with Isabella Zielonka, Ernesto Esposito, Giacinto Salvetti, and taught piano and musicianship in the Italian middle school. After a long interruption, dedicated to the study of mathematical applications to biology and his academic career, he restarted studying piano in San Francisco, Florida and Kensington with Renee Witon, Peggy Salkind, Robert Helps, and Julian White, and music theory and composition with Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Martha Horst. Richard Festinger and Josh Levine. He teaches piano in his piano studio in San Francisco’s Richmond district, at the Community Music Center in San Francisco, and he in an active piano solo recitalist in the Bay Area. He is working toward a Master degree in Composition, as well as investigating fairly arcane (and most likely irrelevant!) music theory venues. For more information visit http://davide.gipibird.net
My interest in piano, and music, blossomed in my early and late teens when I was fortunate enough to meet teachers whose memories I still cherish and who opened many new doors in my young mind. After a long interruption, in my early thirties, I returned to music as a pianist, teacher, and now apprentice composer.
My twenties and mid thirties were occupied with an academic endeavor which, after the completion of my studies in Italy, brought me to the USA, to a PhD in Biostatistics at Berkeley, and to a full professorship at UCSF where I have been doing active research in statistical and mathematical modeling applied to biology for almost twenty years. During that time I published about ninety peer-reviewed articles and received multiple NIH awards.
In the last ten years I intensified the pace of my music studies, and completed more then 50 units of music instruction at the undergraduate level at San Francisco State University (SFSU), as well as the graduate level coursework for the Master in Composition at SFSU in which I am currently enrolled. My piano playing benefited enormously from studying with Peggy Salkind (San Francisco Conservatory of Music) and the late Robert Helps (University of Florida) and Julian White (Kensington, CA), and I am now active as a solo piano recitalist. I teach in my piano studio and at the Community Music Center of San Francisco. Composing is becoming a major artistic endeavor: an independent and at the same time complementary component of my interest and research on music and art.
| 1972-79 | Piano Student of Isabella Zielonka | Civic Music School G Puccini, Gallarate, Italy |
| 1972-7 | Musicianship (Ernesto Esposito), Harmony (Ernesto Esposito), History of Music (Giacinto Salvetti) | |
| 1974 | Diploma: Musicianship | Conservatory of Music G Verdi, Milano, Italy |
| 1976 | Dipoma: mid (pre-final) degree in piano performance | Conservatory of Music G Verdi , Milano, Italy |
| 1979-92 | Music studies interrupted | |
| 1992-95 | Piano Student of Renee Witon | Community Music Center, San Francisco, CA |
| 1995-97 | Piano Student of Peggy Salkind | San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Adult extension) |
| 1998-2001 | Piano Student of Robert Helps | San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL |
| 2002-2005 | Piano Student of Julian White | Private Piano Studio, Kensington, CA. |
| 1998-2005 | Ear Training and musicianship I-III (J Xiques), Performance Practicum (Lee, Corbett-Jones, Woodworth), Counterpoint , Diatonic and Chromatic Harmony (M Horst, CS Gutierrez), Keyboard harmony (V Neve), Tonal Counterpoint (JW Carr), Twentieth Century Compositional Techniques (R Festinger, CS Gutierrez), Undergratuare and Graduate History of Music (M Horst, D Suzuki, P Lee), Gruaduate level Advanced Music Analysis (R Festinger), Orchestration (R Festinger) | Music Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. |
| 2006- | Master of Art in Composition | Music Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. |
Performing as a pianist (solo/chamber/orchestra). Solo performance is the main performing activity including regular recitals in the Bay Area (e.g. Trinity Concert series). Chamber activity is mostly limited to performance of my own chamber compositions. Orchestra appearance as a pianist is scheduled for Oct 2006.
Piano accompanist: Community Music Center Choir in San Francisco, City College of San Francisco Composer Collective, Rosa Elementary School Choir in San Francisco, Creative Voices Choir in San Francisco.Vocal accompanist. Chamber music pianist.
Composition. I started composing for the piano, which is by far the instrument I know best. Now spending more and more time writing for small ensamble (piano duo, trio, string quartet), percussion (Marimba) and voice ensamble.
Musicianship and music history to middle school students in Italy
(1978-1980).
Staff artist for “The Hill Project” (introducing
inner-city children to the visual and performing arts) in San Francisco.
Piano Faculty
at the Community Music Center of San Francisco (www.sfcmc.org) since 2001.
Private Piano Studio in the Richmod distrect in San Francisco.
Music: http://davide.gipibird.net
Current academic appointment: http://www.ucsf.edu/dbps/faculty/facultylistverotta.html
E-mail: davide.verotta@ucsf.edu
Tel: (415) 751-2457