‘I never try to illustrate anything with my music. I don’t write programme music,’ Francesca Verunelli stated in an interview. She is equally vehement in emphasising that she uses sounds to shape time, rather than time being a predetermined vessel for her music. The Italian composer thinks a lot about music in general and, in particular, about the creative process behind her own works. She wrestles with every word in order to be as precise as possible, refining every verbal expression about her work processes and – before it is put down on paper – about her vision of her own music. For nothing is more difficult to put into words than the nature of sounds or the atmosphere of a future composition.
As ‘Composer in Focus’ for the 2026/27 season, Francesca Verunelli has been invited to present her sound-intensive musical language to audiences. She began developing this language at an early age: born in 1979 in a small town near Florence, she first studied piano and soon after composition in Florence and Rome. She then took courses in composition and computer music at IRCAM Paris. Electronic music now plays only a minor role in her current works. For her, this exploration was like a ‘laboratory of thought and a place where I can try out and reflect on musical ideas. The goal of this laboratory is musical thinking itself, not necessarily a piece of music,’ she explains.
