Luigi Lai (born July 25, 1932) is an Italian musician from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, and is living heir of the school of

Sarrabus Sarrabus-Gerrei is a sub-region of south-eastern Sardinia, Italy. Sarrabus Traditionally Sarrabus, probably from the Roman-time city of Sarcopos, occupies the area of the communes of Castiadas, Muravera, San Vito and Villaputzu, corresponding to ...

players of the

launeddas The ''launeddas'' (also called Sardinian triple clarinet) are a traditional Sardinian woodwind instrument made of three pipes, each of which has an idioglot single reed. They are a polyphonic instrument, with one of the pipes functioning as ...

. Lai was born at San Vito, in the

province of Cagliari Cagliari ( it, provincia di Cagliari; sc, provìntzia de Casteddu) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia, Italy and its capital city was Cagliari. It had an area of , and a total population of 543,310 (2001). There were 71 ' ...

. As a child in nearby

Villaputzu Villaputzu ( sro, Bidda de Putzi or ) is a municipality in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region and island of Sardinia, located about northeast of the Sardinian capital Cagliari. It is located in a short plain at the mouth of the ...

, he became a student of one of launeddas player Antonio Lara. For a time he lived in Switzerland and studied at the Academy of Music in Zurich.http://www.launeddas.eu/reserve/luigi_lai_01.htm He now works to spread awareness of the launeddas in Italy and worldwide, and instructs many students. In 1977 he collaborated with

Angelo Branduardi Angelo Branduardi (born 12 February 1950) is an Italian folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece. Biography Branduardi wa ...

playing the typical Sardinian instrument on the album ''

la pulce d'acqua ("The Water Flea") is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Angelo Branduardi. It was released in 1977 by Polydor. A French edition, entitled , was released in 1979; an English edition, entitled ''Fables and Fantasies'' and with lyrics written b ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
* 1932 births Living people People from the Province of Cagliari Italian musicians {{Italy-musician-stub