Bridge Music by Joseph Bertolozzi

American composer Joseph Bertolozzi is forging a unique identity as a 21st century musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra to solo gongs to suspension bridge. With increasingly numerous performances across the US and Europe to his credit, his music is performed by groups ranging from the Grammy-winning Chestnut Brass Company to The Eastman School of Music, and he himself has played at such diverse venues as The Vatican and The US Tennis Open.

His latest explorations in composition have brought him to 'Bridge Music.' This "audacious plan" (New York Times) to compose music for a suspension bridge using the bridge itself as the instrument has brought Bertolozzi sustained international attention. His 2009 CD "Bridge Music" (Delos) entered the Billboard Classical Crossover Music Chart at #18, and has been released globally.

His concert music and theatrical scores have also enjoyed particular success, including “The Contemplation of Bravery,” an official 2002 Bicentennial commission for The United States Military Academy at West Point and his incidental score to “Waiting for Godot” at the 1991 Festival Internationale de Café Theatre in Nancy, France. He also has a large body of liturgical music for use in both Christian and Jewish worship.

Skilled as a concert organist, he's performed his own compositions as well as those of the classical literature in the US and in Italy, Poland, Portugal (for the US State Dept.), and Spain on some of the finest and oldest organs in the world, including St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. He is Organist and Choirmaster at Vassar Temple in Poughkeepsie, NY and Christ Episcopal Church, Suffern, NY. He also performs and composes for his percussion project "The Bronze Collection," a unique collection of over 60 gongs and cymbals from around the world.

Born in 1959 in Poughkeepsie, NY one year after his parents and sister emigrated from Lucca, Italy, he was a voracious reader as a child. When his interest turned to music he read biographies of composers, music encyclopedias, and ultimately musical scores from the local library. He began organ lessons solely to learn how to notate the compositions he aspired to create.

He continued his studies at Vassar College, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (with Xenakis and Donatoni), Westminster Choir College, and The Juilliard School, as well as numerous professional workshops with ASCAP, The American Music Center, and Carnegie Hall (contemporary conducting techniques with Boulez).

His foremost influences are Wendy Carlos, Rick Wakeman, Yes, Messaien, Stravinsky, Gregorian Chant, Caravaggio and Bernini. He also counts among his favorites the work of Scriabin, Bartok, The Beatles, Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Mark Rothko, the English Romantic painters Millais, Leighton and Waterhouse, poet Amy Jo Zook, and writer Nikos Kazantzakis. He is represented by Crossover Media.