The choir
The Roma Rainbow Choir was born in 2006 from an idea of Giuseppe Pecce, who remained in the direction until 2014. The Choir proudly welcomes gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and heterosexual people who, through music and singing, struggle to spread the culture of respect for any form of love and self-determination. Through these cultural means the whole choir actively fights in society so that no one should feel threatened, derided, discriminated against, marginalized for the expression of their human and emotional identity or for their sexuality.
Curriculum vitae of the choir
The Rome Rainbow Choir has always supported and promoted awareness events for LGBTQI * issues but also for the defense of all rights, because a true civil commitment places every battle for civilization and justice on the same level: from World Day for the fight to ‘AIDS (Rainbow Music Against AIDS) at the Concert for Rome Pride, without forgetting the Day of Remembrance and the day against Homotransphobia, the rights of Migrants and ethnic minorities. Twelve years of choral activity have allowed the Roma Rainbow Choir to be not only the first, but also the longest-lived Italian LGBTQIE * choir. And even if the spirit and objectives of our association remain unchanged, the ten-year milestone – celebrated with a choral event in the prestigious Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Rome together with the Forth Choir – marked an inevitable turning point that saw change both the management in its entirety and the artistic direction of Giulia Catenazzo. Renewing yourself is important to carry out battles with determination towards which you must never let your guard down. This is why the first concert of our current singing season was held on December 14, 2017 at the International Women’s House. The House is the place that we have chosen with decision to give our support to a reality that has become, in its more than twenty years of activity, a point of reference for its support for the community of Roman women and for its constant commitment against all forms of discrimination, violence and marginalization. We brought our voice to the Auditorium Parco della Musica as part of the Leopold-o project by Luana Perilli and attended the European Conference of LGBT Christian groups at the European Conference of LGBT Christian groups, coordinated by Paths of Hope at the Somascan Fathers of Albano; finally in May 2018 we intervened as guests of Omphalos in Perugia, in the splendid Sala dei Notari, on the occasion of the World Day against omo-trans-biphobia. In June and July, for the Pride season, we have prepared two important events: Elebababele (music and language) at the Maxxi Museum in Rome and Witches, saints and whores, a concert organized in collaboration with the Parruccoro, the Moby Dick library and the Circle of Homosexual Culture Mario Mieli. Both events have obtained the patronage of Cromatica: we must not forget that since 2014 the Roma Rainbow Choir has contributed to establishing the Coordination of Italian LGBT * Choirs (CoCorIta), creating in Bologna the first Italian Festival of LGBT * choirs, Cromatica, then replicated in Milan and Naples, and is one of the founding members of Cromatica, the National Association of LGBT * choirs established in 2018. Recently, with the concert entitled Amor vincit omnia, again in collaboration with the Parruccoro, the Moby Dick library and the Mario Mieli Homosexual Culture Club, we sang not only at the Club’s premises, but also at Villa Wolkonsky, headquarters of the British ambassador to Italy, during a conference on the occasion of the world day to fight HIV / AIDS. We also participated in the evening in memory of La Karl du Pigné at the Quarticciolo theater in Rome, organized by Dragqueenmania, and finally at the Mario Mieli club membership party, presenting the Rome Rainbow Choir as one of the club’s cultural activities.
The director
Francesco Leineri is the director of the Rome Rainbow Choir.
He graduated in Composition (institutional course – old system) at theSanta Cecilia Conservatory in Rome under the guidance of Maestro Matteo D’Amico and has
deepened in parallel the study of conducting with the masters Gianluigi Zampieri and Francesco Lanzillotta.
His chamber music works show a particular attention to the percussion family and the universe of the voice. In addition to his consolidated work in the field of
music applied to performance (opera, theater and visual arts), he also works as an arranger in the world of pop music and as a director of pieces from his repertoire.
His works have been staged or performed in Italy (PIF 2014, Castelfidardo; “Contro” – Auditorium Parco della musica in Rome; “Assoli” – Roman Philharmonic Academy; GNAM Rome; MUST Milan), France (Theater de Verre, Paris) , Germany (UWE – der festival 2016, Munich), Czech Republic (Setkani-Encounter 2016, Brno), Switzerland (“Travel Notes” 2010, Teatro La Darsena, Lugano), California (Spreckels Theater, San Diego Fringe Festival 2015) , Mexico (Estacion Teatro, Tijuana), India (ITFOK 2017, Thrissur) and Ecuador (Encuentro de los Andes 2013, Riobamba).
