Francesco Marzano
(b. 1992, Bari, Italy) is a multimedia artist and performer whose practice combines sound, performance, text, video and visual media. Through interdisciplinary formats, his work explores questions of embodiment, autobiography, memory, language, collectivity and perception.
Originally trained as a flautist and literary scholar, he studied flute and literature in Milan and interpretation of contemporary music, music pedagogy and performance art in Cologne and Essen.
He has collaborated with artists including Marina Abramović, Christina Kubisch, Salvatore Sciarrino and Doris Uhlich, and has presented work at international festivals, museums and theatres including MiTo Settembre Musica, Museo Teatro alla Scala, Cantiere internazionale d’arte, Warsaw Autumn, Acht Brücken, Monheim Triennale, Lisinski Concert Hall, Museum Folkwang, Neumarkt Theater, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Museum Schloss Moyland, Museum Ludwig and Ludwig Forum Aachen.
As a performance artist, Francesco Marzano has collaborated with the Marina Abramović Institute since 2023, realizing several long-durational performances.
As a flautist, he has received artistic inspiration through masterclasses with James Galway, Raffaele Trevisani, Jennifer Seubel and Helen Bledsoe, and won first prizes at the international competitions Nuovo Premio Contea (2016) and Premio Monterosa-Kawai (2015).
His projects have been supported through scholarships and grants from organizations including Live Music Now Köln – Yehudi Menuhin, DAAD, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Deutsche Orchesterstiftung, Musikfonds and Initiative Freie Musik Köln.
Alongside his performative and musical work, Marzano develops visual works spanning installation, photography, text-based works and material explorations, some of which can be found in the Miscellanea section of this website.
Beyond his artistic practice, he is active as a radio journalist for WDR Cosmo and as an author in the fields of philology, performative theatre and music.