Lucio Agostini (

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 30 December 1913 –

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, 15 February 1996) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

-born

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, and conductor who established his career in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Life

At age three, Agostini moved with his family to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada. His father, Giuseppe Agostini, was a composer and conductor and it is from him that he had his initial musical training beginning at age five. He later pursued further studies in harmony and composition with Louis Michiels and

Henri Miro Henri Enrique Miro (13 November 1879 – 19 July 1950) was a Canadian composer/arranger, conductor, pianist, and music critic of Catalan birth. He was a pioneering conductor for Canadian radio and his works were performed in all of Montrea ...

and in

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

with Peter Van der Meerschen.Lucio Agostini
at

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for ...

At 16, Agostini was playing with the

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

as a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and was a part-time band player in a nightclub band playing

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

. From 1932 to 1943, he composed film music for the Associated Screen News of Canada newsreels, and in 1934 he began working as a conductor for the

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Origins The CRBC was establish ...

(the forerunner to the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

). In

, where he moved in 1943, he composed and conducted the incidental music for drama series and variety programs on the CBC radio and television, and for over 20 years he held the position as conductor and arranger on the popular weekly series ''

Front Page Challenge ''Front Page Challenge'' was a Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth (of the comedy team of Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth) and produced and aired by CBC Television, the seri ...

''. As a composer, he wrote for ''The Tommy Ambrose Show'' and ''

The World of Music ''The World of Music'' was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1960 to 1961. Premise Each episode of this series covered a particular genre, nationality or region. Themes included multicultural music, opera, ...

'', musicals, scores for movies (including a brief stint in Hollywood from 1955–56), shorts (many for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

’s ''

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' (French: ''En avant Canada'') was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was initially created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. Wit ...

'' and ''

The World in Action ''The World in Action'' (aka ''World in Action'') was a monthly series of propaganda films from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), created to boost morale and show the Allied war effort during the Second World War. The series was inspired b ...

'' series), concertos and an opera. Agostini won the

John Drainie Award The John Drainie Award was an award given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada. Although meant to be presented annually there have been years where it was not presented. Originally created by ACTRA in 1 ...

at the

12th ACTRA Awards The 12th ACTRA Awards were presented on April 16, 1983. The ceremony was hosted by Don Harron.Jane Harrison"Billy Bishop best TV show" ''Owen Sound Sun-Times'', April 18, 1983. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau presented the top award for Best Televi ...

in 1983 in recognition of his contributions to broadcasting in Canada.Rick Groen, "Air Farce, Billy Bishop big ACTRA winners". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', April 18, 1983.

References

* ''Conductor led first CBC program at 18'',

, The Arts, Saturday, 17 February 1996. C2. accessed on 18 October 2006.

External links

National Library of Canada Music Archives: Lucio AgostiniCanadian Communications Foundation: Lucio Agostini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agostini, Lucio 1913 births 1996 deaths Canadian film score composers Male film score composers Italian emigrants to Canada People of Marchesan descent Canadian male composers Male conductors (music) Musicians from Montreal 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians