Renowned Pianist, Composer & Conductor

Francesco Lotoro

Francesco Lotoro, an Italian pianist, composer, and conductor, has tirelessly recovered, studied, revised, archived, recorded, and promoted thousands of works of music composed by individuals in the concentration camps of World War II. He has recovered over 8,000 scores, and has written over 3,000 university publications. He is the author of several volumes of musicology, and currently works as a professor at the “U. Giordano” Music Conservatory, in Foggia.

In 2013, the French Ministry of Culture nominated him Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, which was followed in 2014 by the title Cavalier dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana conferred by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Most recently, in October of 2020, Francesco and his wife Grazia Tiritiello received the Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for their contribution to concentrationary music.