Luciano Troja

Luciano Troja is a pianist, improviser, composer based in Messina (Sicily, Italy). Self-taught since the infancy, he is graduated in Jazz Composition at Conservatorio “Corelli” in Messina. 
He released over fifteen albums as leader or co-leader for Splasc(H), NoFrills Music, Almendra Music, Slam Productions 
From 2002 to 2008 he was the pianist and composer for the Mahanada Quartet, which toured extensively in Europe and the US. The group produced three albums.  

For over fifteen years, Luciano has worked intensively with the Italian guitarist Giancarlo Mazzù, performing as a duo in Europe and the US. Together they have forged a unique path focusing on music from a creative impro-approach to the American Songbook. Their recordings include “Seven Tales About Standards Vol.1 & Vol.2” (Splasch 2006, 2008), “Live at Metropolitan Room NYC”(Slam 2013), and Broad-ways (ACK, 2017).

In 2010, Luciano released the acclaimed solo piano album, "At Home With Zindars". Among its many awards, the album received the distinction in 2011 as being one of Stereophile magazine’s “Records To Die For”. 

Since 2011, in NYC, Luciano collaborates with the veterans improvisers Blaise Siwula (recording five albums), Rocco John Iacovone and several musicians of the impro-scene, performing at ABC No-Rio, Downtown Music Gallery, Shapeshifter Lab, Spectrum, NYU and many others places.

In 2016, Luciano released an album of original compositions titled "An Italian Tale" (Almendra) in duo with the classical bassoonist Antonino Cicero. 

Luciano is also co-founder and director of Pannonica Workshop, an innovative ensemble of Sicilian improvisers and classical musicians. Together, since over twenty years, they join forces to create unlikely instrumental combinations, and focus on presenting works by contemporary American composers.

Luciano has performed also in the European scene such as Athens Biennial of Arts, Casa del Jazz (Roma), Klaipeda Festival (Lithuania), Taormina Arte, Curva Minore (Palermo).

Luciano collaborates since 2015 with “Laboratorio Suono & Ritmo”, with Giovanna La Maestra e Francesca Billè, working in a process of cohesion between musicians and young disables people.

For the past ten years, Luciano has been the Artistic Director of Filarmonica Laudamo Messina, one of the most time-honored music associations in Italy.  
He is the founder and pianist of Filarmonica Laudamo Creative Orchestra, directed, among the others, by Karl Berger, Dave Burrell, Instant Composers Pool.