“In thinking back to my relatively brief encounters with Maestro Alberto Zedda, I have realized how fortunate and thankful I am for the absolutely singular experience that was working with him at the Rossini Opera Festival.
I am professionally thankful for Maestro Zedda’s artistic guidance of the Festival, which provided amazing performing and listening opportunities and insights into the bel canto art. Bel canto is an aural tradition, and through the staging of many of Rossini’s often neglected masterworks and the employment of the world’s foremost interpreters of singing, Zedda presided over a Festival that has shaped the art of singing and provided a vast historical record of performance excellence. Additionally, the performing opportunities given to rising artists in this (and the next) generation of singers has launched numerous operatic careers and will continue to advance the singing tradition around the world.
I’m also personally thankful for the educational opportunities that the Festival and Accademia Rossiniana stood for. Bringing together young singers from around the world to discover and perfect their craft in the yearly performances of Il viaggo a Reims has been a foundational part of my experience as a singer and my approach to bel canto and to the art of teaching.
Maestro Zedda, through his tireless work, has influenced operatic singing in ways that will be felt for many years to come, but above all these accomplishments, I will fondly remember his impish and brilliant smile and his fast shuffle through the streets of Pesaro, most likely off to a rehearsal to serve the art of singing and his beloved composer Rossini.” Randall Bills