Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Art 2015
Field of Work: UNESCO Artist for Peace
Date: 19 November 2015
Place of Ceremony: Caird Hall, Dundee
Host Institution: University of Dundee
Host Country: Scotland, UK
The 2015 Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts was granted to Professor Dr. Milton Masciadri, Professor of Music at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia, USA.
The recognition is for Prof. Masciadri’s extraordinary, multi-faceted career as a performing artist, cultural ambassador, educator, international leader, and author. The jury particularly commended his work as a UNESCO Artist for Peace and his extensive work teaching and mentoring new generations of young musicians.
Professor Dr. Milton Masciadri has established a celebrated international reputation as a performing artist, cultural ambassador, educator, and author. He is renowned as a world leader, brilliant performer, and a passionate teacher of young musicians.
Milton, a third-generation double bass player, was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He began his career at the age of 17, when he was co-principal bassist with the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra in Brazil. At 19, he was already a faculty member of the Federal University of Brazil. He completed his masters and doctorate degrees under the tutelage of Gary Karr, Julius Levine, and Lawrence Wolfe. He joined the Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty at the University of Georgia in 1984. In 2009, he received the title of Distinguished University Professor of the University of Georgia, becoming the first faculty member in Fine Arts to be so honoured in 62 years.
In 1998, Dr. Masciadri was appointed as a UNESCO Artist for Peace and, in that capacity, has appeared across the globe in performances, master classes and workshops. The lengthy list of his international honours includes an appointment as ‘accademico’ to the Academia Filarmonica in Bologna, Italy, Europe’s oldest institute for teaching music; recognition as ‘cavagliero di San Marco’ in Venice; and recipient of the Medal of Honour for academic services to the people of Brazil.
Dr. Masciadri has led international festivals and, as a soloist, appeared worldwide in over 300 recitals and concerts. He has performed chamber music and duets with artists such as George Bolet, Robert Mc Duffie, Aldo Parisot, Sidney Harth, Gary Karr, and Francesco Petracchi, playing a 320-year-old testore double bass. He is a frequent recitalist and soloist with major symphony orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
At the University of Georgia, Dr. Masciadri embodies the heart of its mission of excellence, mentoring new generations of young musicians. His reputation as a double bass instructor has attracted students from across the United States and the world.
Milton has also given master classes at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Paris Conservatoire, Guildhall School of Music in London, Moscow Conservatory, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires National Conservatory, and Milan’s Conservatorio, among others, and teaches at several international music festivals in the summer.
Milton Masciadri’s enthusiasm for enlarging the repertoire of the double bass has led him to publish and premiere works of many contemporary American and South American composers, some of them commissioned by UNESCO and Funarte (Brazilian Foundation for the Arts), along with his own arrangements.
