Massimo Scapin, an Italian conductor of both opera and the symphonic repertoire, composer, and pianist, holds degrees in piano and choral conducting from the State Conservatory of Music in Perugia, in orchestral conducting and composition from the National College of Music in London, and in religious science (magna cum laude) from the Pontifical Lateran University. Massimo appeared as guest conductor and pianist in Europe, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, and the United States. He was also a Vatican Radio commentator and entertainer. He currently serves as Director of Liturgical Music at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago.
Author: Massimo Scapin
500 Years Later, Remembering World Explorer Ferdinand Magellan
Half a millennium ago, on April 27, 1521, the Portuguese explorer who made the first tour of the world in human history was killed in the Philippines during an unexpected skirmish on the small island of Mactan: Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão …
Remembering Igor Stravinsky – 1882-1971
Fifty years ago today, on April 6, 1971, at the age of 88, the composer Igor Stravinsky died of a heart attack in New York. He was a musical genius of the twentieth century who did not limit himself — …
A Musician of Touching Faith – Remembering Astor Piazzolla
One hundred years ago, on March 11, 1921, the greatest musician of Argentina in the second half of the last century was born: Astor Piazzolla. In Argentina he was born in Mar del Plata to Italian parents (the father from …
Vatican Radio Turns 90 Today
The Statio Radiophonica Vaticana — better known in the English-speaking world as Vatican Radio –which reaches all continents with its news and programs in 32 languages, turns 90 today. The broadcasting entity of the Holy See, legally recognized by international …
Remembering James Joyce
Eighty years ago this week, on January 12, 1941, James Joyce (Dublin 1882 — Zurich 1941), a great wordsmith, an Irish writer counted among the greatest of the twentieth century, fell into a coma following an operation for an ulcer …
Beethoven: Retracing His Life as a Man and Artist
Tomorrow marks 250 years since the baptism of the great German composer, considered the last of the Classics and the first of the Romantics: Ludwig van Beethoven (Bonn 1770 – Vienna 1827). Retracing his life as a man and artist, …
Remembering Bernini
On November 28, 1680, 340 years ago, under the reign of Pope Innocent XI, the eleventh pope he served, the genius symbol of Roman Baroque art died in Rome at the age of 81: the architect, sculptor, painter, and set …
Observing the 70th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Assumption
Sunday, November 1st, marked the 70th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Dogma of Mary’s Assumption. On November 1, 1950, in fact, Pius XII, during a memorable Jubilee Year — the first in the era of the mass media — …
Hasse’s Conversion of St. Augustine
It was on this day, 1590 years ago, that before the age of seventy six, in Hippo, today’s Bona in Algeria, a passionate seeker of truth, the most illustrious of the Fathers of the Western Church went to his eternal …
Napoleon, Europe, and Haydn’s “Mass in Time of Affliction”
Two hundred years ago, “by the tidings, in amaze / the earth is held, and with her gaze / the parting hour doth mutely scan / of this great spirit,” as we read in Alessandro Manzoni’s The Fifth of May. …
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