Stratta, Ettore
The Italian conductor, pianist, composer and record producer, Ettore Stratta, studied piano and composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He also attended conducting courses given by Tibor Serly in New York, and Eleazar de Carvalho in Brazil.
Multi-talented Ettore Stratta travels throughout the world as conductor / composer / arranger and producer. His work touches many musical bases – classical, pop and jazz and sometimes combines these in unique recording and concert projects. He has conducted and recorded with various major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Studio Orchestra, with such well-known artists as: Gary Burton, Dori Caymmi, Chanticleer, Justino Diaz, Plácido Domingo, Stephane Grappelli, Lena Horne, Al Jarreau, Yo-Yo Ma, Maureen McGovern, Samuel Ramey, Arturo Sandoval, Tom Scott, Sissel and Barbra Streisand, among others.
Ettore Stratta’s record productions include Tony Bennett’s “The Art of Excellence,”, Eddie Daniels’ “Break-through”, “”Stephane Grappelli Plays Kern”, and Cleo Laine’s “Jazz”. He also was conductor/music coordinator for Maureen McGovern’s “State of the Heart”. Lena Horne’s album “The Men In My Life”, which he produced in l988, received three Grammy nominations. He also produced Diahann Carroll’s most recent CD “The Time Of My Life”. His additional record productions include the Sony Classical “Los Tangueros” with Emanuel Ax and Pablo Ziegler performing on two pianos the music of Astor Piazzoilla –and the l997-released CD by Maureen McGovern “The Music Never Ends”, featuring the lyrics of Marilyn & Alan Bergman. Recently, he recorded Pablo Ziegler and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in “Tango Romance” for BMG Classics.
Ettore Stratta’s series of recordings for Teldec have appeared consistently in the Billboard charts. These recordings include: “Symphonic Lloyd Weber” (1991), “Symphonic Tango” (1991), “Symphonic Boleros” (1993), “Symphonic Bossa Nova” (1994) and”Symphonic Evita” (1997), recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the most popular “Symphonic Elvis”. Many of his recordings have been produced together with Phoenix USA Founder and Director: Jeffrey Kaufman. These recordings include: “Music from the Galaxies” performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, “A Portrait of Julio” performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The aforementioned “Symphonic Elvis” “, recorded with The Memphis Symphony and several original members of Presley’s band, was on the charts for over 30 weeks. “The Music of Martinu and Britten” with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg featuring Joshua Pierce and Dorothy Jonas, duo-pianos and “Justino Diaz/ Mozart Arias” with the English Chamber Orchestra.
In 1984 Ettore Stratta conducted the recording premiere of Benjamin Britten‘s Scottish Ballad and in both 1986 and 1988 he was nominated for the prestigious Wavendon Award as “Conductor of the Year”. He also conducted Goerge Duke’s “Muir Woods Suite”, recorded live at Montreux (1993), and at The Belleayre Music Festival, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, in a program of music by W.A. Mozart and Copland (1996).
As a Producer, Stratta has gold and platinum albums with Barbra Streisand and Wendy Carlos of “Switched on Bach”. In l98l, he won first prize at the Castlebar International Music Festival for his instrumental composition. “Tempus Fugit”. Together with Pat Philips of the partnership, Stratta/Philips Productions, he has staged over 50 major concerts of pop, jazz and classical music at such venues as Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles as well as in other cities of the USA and Europe. Stratta/Philips also recently produced highly acclaimed “Tribute to the Nicholas Brothers – From Harlem to Hollywood” at Carnegie Hall with Lena Horne, Bill Cosby, Savion Glover, Maurice Hines, Ben Vereen and others.
Other concert events have included Stephane Grappelli’s 80th Birthday at Carnegie Hall with Yo-Yo Ma and Michel Legrand as well as “All Jobim – the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim”, with Al Jarrreau, Ivan LIns, and Joe Lovano and an earlier Jobim concert with Gilberto Gil, Branford Marsalis, Herbie Mann and Eliane Elias. Stratta/Philips produced projects with The Joffrey Ballet as well as the classic symphonic series “Absolut Concerto” for five years at Lincoln Center.
Etore Stratta conducted three sold-out concerts in Sao Paulo with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London in programs of Symphonic Tangos and Bossa Novas…in celebration of “500 Years of the Discovery of Brazil.” (1993-1994). In l998, Ettore Stratta was honored with the NARAS Legendary Producer’s Award, presented during an industry luncheon in New York. Since then, he has recorded and produced a new CD with Pablo Ziegler and his Quintet for New Tango for RCA Records… and his own CD “As Time Goes By” as conductor/producer for Teldec/Atlantic Classics. In 2000, Stratta has produced the album “Only Love” with soprano, Sumi Jo, for Erato Records. He also worked on productions for BMG Classics and Jazz as well as a forthcoming Teldec/Atlantic Classics project, as both producer and conductor. Stratta recorded for Warner Classics with Star Tenor José Cura in a program of “Latin Love Songs” (2002). He conducted the symphonic orchestra and co-produce the CD. He also worked on a “crossover” project with operatic mezzo soprano Denyce Graves for RCA Records released in 2002. In 2003, he produced and conducted the CD “My Heart” for Decca of the fabulous artist Sissel Kyrkjebø from Norway which has become #1 in several European countries and was released later in America. Arrangements for the CD were done by famed Arranger, Jorge Calandrelli.. “Django Festival at Birdland was released in 2004.
