Meet Tommaso Annoni | Music Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tommaso Annoni and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tommaso, how does your business help the community?
Music is extremely powerful. Often we don’t even notice it, but it permeates our lives – from songs playing in the various stores we visit, to ads, and entertainment being filled with it. It is therefore always a pleasure to be able to enhance a story’s emotional impact through music. And each and every story has its own director’s vision and needs a specific emotional undertone.
For example, in scoring the short movie “Cutthroat”, written by Tristan McKenzie, it was important to follow the protagonists, building tension toward the climax, but also evoking the “broken” world around them. “Cutthroat” is at the same time a raw and delicate project, dealing with the reiteration of trauma and with how our socio-economical background somehow molds us into who we are. It is important to tell stories like this, to raise awareness about many social issues that otherwise can be forgotten or disregarded, and even if it seems secondary, the music plays an important part in generating the emotion and supporting the story, in order to help it reach the audience fully: when both the rational and emotional minds are touched, only then we really perceive the meaning of what we are seeing. Somehow, we can empathize with the characters on screen and understand that there is a sort of unity between all of us. Only when we can see ourselves and empathize with those different situations do we really understand that we are “one family”, and struggles that can be otherwise disregarded as “other people’s problems” become something we want to act on.
A different scenario, but with a similar impact, would be the videogame “Two interviewees”, which I had the pleasure of scoring as well. In this project, Mauro Vanetti (creator and programmer) was very clear about the modern gender discrimination and pay gap in workplaces, even bringing up data and social analysis for the players to reflect on. But in the first phase of gameplay, he decided very intelligently to be subtle. He let the players try to get both the male and female characters to get hired (through an interview, by choosing the same answers for both), and making the player realize only after their choices that the reception of any “normal” answer is viewed very differently, depending on their gender. In this case, I quickly understood that we had to instill the same deception through the music. I created some light jazz tracks that would work well to make the player feel safe and have fun in the game, while at the same time, once the gender discrimination appears, the mood would shift to sad and ironic, working well in conjunction with the deception of the interviewer.
In this case, even a funny and lighter music mood can help instill a more serious realization, through the use of irony.
I am always happy to work on those kinds of projects, where music can play its role in enhancing the meaning of a story that brings awareness to important contemporary social issues.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love working on educational projects. Music really carries a unifying and transcendental power, and I love when it works in conjunction with educational ventures of various kinds that foster a positive social message. I was lucky enough to be able to write music, orchestrate, conduct, and play in various projects of this kind.
The first was “Imparo l’Opera” (“I learn the Opera”), an Italian concert series that premiered at Parma’s “Teatro Regio”, for which I orchestrated reductions of various Giuseppe Verdi’s Operas to educate younger generations about the beauty of the music and the relevance of those stories. This series received a Franco Abbiati Italian Music Critic Award.
More recently, I was Assistant Conductor for the music score recording of “Sky Blossom”. This documentary gave us important insights into the life of many American families in which there is a generational “swap” that sees the younger generation taking care of their parents, from victims of serious health issues to war veterans. It was awarded “Best Documentary Feature” at Yellowstone International Film Festival 2021.
Another important project for me was the videogame “Two Interviewees”, for which I wrote the music, that is a commentary on the gender pay gap and discrimination in workplaces. The game won the “Treccani’s Award for Excellence in Italian Web”.
I also wrote the music score for “Cutthroat”, a short that shines a light on the cycle of trauma reiteration and other social issues.
As an actor and flute player, I participated in theatre plays with autistic children, and worked with educators and psychologists on a musical play that helped a young girl dealing with the loss of her mother.
And even when I was an organic farmer in Switzerland, I had the opportunity to help a kid who was living on the farm (having been distanced from his family because of a situation of abuse) to reconnect socially through music. I was playing the piano, and he would join as a percussionist, listening to me and playing pans and other kitchenware, in a musical exchange that, as music therapy taught us, can open a new way of communicating and expressing ourselves. This last experience can seem like a minor event, but it is very close to my heart. I feel thankful for every single soul I am able to touch and hopefully help.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I really love nature, so I would suggest a hike and visiting the Griffith Observatory, or visiting the gorgeous gardens at the Huntington Library. If you are more into farmers’ markets or catching a movie, The Grove is a more central place to walk around and find many nice things.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to thank Isaiah Castro and the orchestra “Synesthesia Sinfonietta”, based in Bellflower. They are really doing an amazing job in sharing classical and modern orchestral music, and creating a platform for young musicians to be able to play and grow together. Opportunities where young students and teachers play together are beneficial for many reasons: from building community and a space young musicians of various ages and backgrounds to perform, to bringing beauty to the greater LA. Thank you Synesthesia Sinfonietta for your work!

Website: http://www.tommasoannoni.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommaso_annoni/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommaso-annoni-77014784/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomannoni_music

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomannoni/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4w0LcJhOJTEL4jLU-KkBHQ