Remo Lauricella

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Remo Lauricella

Background information
Born	1912 London, England
Died	January 19, 2003 London, England
Genre(s)	Classical
Occupation(s)	Composer, violinist
Instrument(s)	Violin
Notable instrument(s)
Violin Vesuvius Stradivarius 1927

Remo Lauricella (1912 – 19 January 2003) was a British composer and concert violinist.

He was born in London in 1912, his parents hailing from Catania in Sicily. Lauricella’s father Pietro, a successful tailor with a fashionable clientele, gave him his first violin lessons. He obtained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. He became a friend of Benjamin Britten who was a fellow student of composition under Frank Bridge. Later he studied at conservatoires in Siena and Santiago de Compostela.

Much of his career was spent as first violinist for the London Philharmonic, although he also played chamber music in many of the world’s important music venues.

Benjamin Britten wrote a Fantasy Scherzo for piano trio, retitled "Introduction and Allegro (unpublished) dedicated to Remo Lauricella and Bernard Richards. It was first performed on the 22nd November 1986 by Marcia Crayford (violin), Christopher Van Kampern and Ian Brown (piano) brother Iona Brown (famous violinist) at Wigmore Hall.

Lauricella died on 19 January 2003 in London. Upon his death, his antique Vesuvio Stradivarius (ex antonio brosa) violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1727, was left to the Italian town of Cremona. Cremona is both the birthplace of Stradivari as well as the place where the Vesuvio was created. Lauricella owned the Vesuvio since 1968.