After graduating from Smith College Magna cum Laude in Art History, and
French Language and Literature, she went on to receive her degree in
voice from the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome. She attended Master
Classes held at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Accademia Chigiana in
Siena, and the Opera Comique in Paris, among others. She studied
privately with Eloise Finardi while she was at Smith College, and later
with Maestro Ettore Campogalliani (the teacher of Renata Tebaldi,
Luciano Pavarotti, and Mirella Freni) and Madame Dupleix of the Opera
Comique. |
After three years singing with the chorus of the Teatro
Comunale and the Maggio Musicale in Florence, during which she was
assigned important solo parts in works by Hector Berlioz, Richard
Strauss and others, her musical focus turned towards Broadway. In New
York she worked with Ron Clairmont, the original pianist for The
Fantastiks, and Phil Hall, the renowned Broadway vocal coach.
|
Ennio Morricone, Italy's (and Clint Eastwood's) leading film
composer, said of her: "I have had the pleasure of working with Pina
Magri several times during my career, and each time was a splendid
occasion to appreciate her vocal qualities. Technically and musically
of the first order... she has all the qualities needed to make her mark
in the musical world."
Pina's credits as solo soprano in
film scores composed by Maestro Morricone include Hamlet (directed by
Franco Zeffirelli) and Il Principe del Deserto, a television film
starring Omar Sharif, Elliot Gould and Carol Alt.
As lead
soprano in numerous musical theater productions including The
Fantastiks, Jacques Brel Is..., and Sognando Broadway (selections from
My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Cats...) Emozioni,
Il ritratto di Dorian Gray and several other staged productions based
upon selections from the best known Broadway musicals all over Italy.
She was principal understudy for the role of Aldonza ‑Dulcinea in Man
of La Mancha when it was produced at the Theatre Marigny in Paris.
Her
television credits include vocalist in leading musical variety shows on
Italian national television, and three appearances on Jacques Martin's
Tout le monde le sait, broadcast from Paris. Her voice has been
featured in numerous advertising spots ranging musically from Morricone
film score excerpts to the Queen of the Night's aria from Mozart's The
Magic Flute. In a very different vein, she has recorded and toured with
the Solisti del Madrigale Italiano in programs devoted to the music of
the Italian Renaissance.
At University "La Sapienza", in Rome, Pina was awarded the Gold Medal
of the Premio Internazionale "Foyer des Artistes" in recognition of her
contribution to the Italian and American vocal traditions.
John Sessions - Head of the Department of Music at Smith College
|