Composer Federico Albanese bringing music from Northern Italy to Calgary

Italian composer Federico Albanese performs at the National Music Centre on Thursday, Feb. 27, on the back of his new album Blackbirds and the Sun of October.

Composer Federico Albanese admits his work environment in Northern Italy is intimidating because it’s stunningly beautiful.

“At first, it was actually quite scary because when you have a lot of beautiful things around you, there’s already so much beauty around that maybe I felt I wasn’t able to create any beauty,” Albanese said of Blackbirds and The Sun of October, the album he recorded in the Monferrato region.

“I was just basically a vessel to sort of describe what I was seeing every day in music.”

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The Italian multi-instrumentalist divides his time between Italy and Berlin, where he moved in 2012.

Albanese’s music is atmospheric and meditative, so listeners may be surprised he’s a fan of the American pop-punk band Green Day.

“Yes, of course! That was my very first concert in my life,” Albanese told CTV News.

“My father gave me for my birthday two tickets to go and see Green Day and a clarinet.”

Albanese performs in Calgary Thursday, Feb. 27, at Studio Bell.