Adolfo Gandino

Adolfo Gandino was born in Bra and was the son of the Latinist Giovanni Battista Gandino and Olimpia Orsi. He moved with his family to Bologna, where he attended composition courses with Bruno Mugellini, Cesare Dall’Olio, and Giuseppe Martucci at the city’s music conservatory, eventually graduating in composition. He further honed his skills in Italy and abroad with Massenet and Rimsky-Korsakov. Alongside his musical studies, he also pursued a university degree, graduating in Law from the University of Ferrara.

His musical output was diverse and varied, including sacred music, instrumental works, and around a hundred songs for voice and piano. In 1922, he also held the position of mayor of Ciagnano, a district of Ozzano dell’Emilia in the province of Bologna. He died suddenly at the age of 61 on June 7, 1940, still in the midst of his creative activities. Like many other famous musicians from Bologna, he is buried in the family chapel at the Monumental Cemetery of Certosa in Bologna.