"...music has always saved me…"

   Originally from Venetian origin Renzo Trevisan was born in Terni in 1920 and even as a small child he felt a great attraction towards music even though he was not from a family of musicians. For this reason he then independently made the decision to work in order to pay for his studies which he continued to do up until the outbreak of World War II. As military personnel he was taken prisoner in Greece and later sent to a concentration camp in Germany. After the war finished he began studying privately with Rodolfo Caporali in Rome and then with Rio Nardi in Florence. Under Rio Nardi’s  guidance he went on to obtain his Diploma in Piano at the “Arrigo Boito” Conservatory of Music in Parma.

   Together with some musician friends he put together the "Complesso in Grigio", an American style band, and they held evening performances and concerts during the early post war period.  He was still a boy when he composed the song “Anna” which was very popular during the War, so popular that it was played on the national radio by the famous Angelini Orchestra.

   His close childhood friend, the composer Alessandro Casagrande, asked him to teach at the “Giulio Briccialdi” Music Institute in Terni as he was the Director of the Institute at that time. After the premature death of the musician in 1964 Renzo Trevisan contributed to the realization of the  first edition of  the “Alessandro Casagrande” International Piano Competition and continued to do so through the years and this event has become famous worldwide.

   Constantly drawn by his profound passion for music he taught privately and in schools for more than forty years. His students stretched over more than one generation and many of these children and teenagers have become professional musicians. As a pianist he mainly performed in concerts and collaborated with many singers such as  the soprano Caterina Contenti and the baritone Carlo Guidantoni. These appearances were mainly in repertoires of vocal chamber music and Italian opera. Renzo Trevisan died in June, 2003.

   The Centre of Piano Studies named after him aims to be a tribute to this reserved and generous man whose only ambition was to transmit his passion for music to both his many students and  acquaintances. Music was always at the centre of his thoughts and this was not lived just as a career but as a profound pleasure to share with others. His deep conviction that the love of art, nature and for the beautiful in general helps us to be better human beings and this allows us to look at life from different and certainly more sensitive eyes.

     We can conclude with the phrase that he loved repeating when he talked about his terrible experience during the war: "...music has always saved me…"