Biography

The Choir of Villimpenta was formed in 1989 by the initiative of Don Ezio Foglia and Sister Margherita Toniolo, with the aim of animating the liturgical celebrations. Thanks to the commitment of members and supporters and the constant support of the parish, it grows year after year in the repertoire and in the staff.

The first extra-liturgical experience was the preparation of a Christmas concert for the parishioners, in 2002; the great success achieved encourages the choir to continue its growth, improvement and musical research.

Year after year the activity of the choir intensifies, enriching itself with new and important experiences, even abroad; worthy of note are the performances at the Lincoln Center in New York (April 2016) together with about 200 choristers from all over the world, in Horb am Neckar (July 2016 and October 2019) in twinning with the German formation of Vocalmania Isenburg, at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua for the "Incanto a Palazzo" festival (June 2018), in Prague for the Spring Choral Festival (April 2019). Its choristers have also participated in various national and international training and exchange initiatives, such as the III International Choral Meeting in the Vatican (November 2018) and "Sing Gently" – Virtual Choir 6 by Eric Whitacre (May 2020).

The current line-up has 35 choristers and 5 musicians from Villimpenta and neighboring countries. The repertoire, mainly sacred, is very varied and ranges from folk songs to gospel, spiritual and vocal pop, with particular attention to musical proposals from abroad. Most of the pieces are proposed with an original harmonization designed specifically for the choral and instrumental ensemble available.

Parallel to the concert activity, the choir still continues the Sunday liturgical service in the parish and takes care of the musical animation of weddings, baptisms and anniversaries.

Mattia Lorenzetti has followed the choir since its inception, first as organist, then as conductor. He studied at the Conservatory of Music "L. Campiani" of Mantua under the guidance of Maestro Laura Cattaneo, obtaining the Middle Completion of piano in 1997. He is currently studying modern singing under the guidance of Maestro Jacopo Bonfante. As a choir conductor he is self-taught.