Melbourne composer Franco
Cambareri was barely able to walk when he first heard the magic
sound of the piano accordion - an instrument he promptly felt in
love with and dreamed of one day possessing.
From the shores of the Calabria region of Italy and at the tender
age of fifteen, Franco boarded the steamer Neptune to make the long
voyage down under and soon after arriving in Melbourne he started
working to help pay for the rest of his family to join him in Australia.
Franco was seventeen when he finally had enough money to put a deposit
on an accordion and pay for one music lesson per week - his determination
to learn meant he spent many a long hour in study and practice.
In the early sixties Franco spent twelve months in Rome furthering
his studies in musc and on return to Australia he formed a Quintet,
a band which met with instant success and enjoyed popularity on
radio, television and at social clubs and night clubs around Melbourne.
With this experience and after releasing several EP records it was
time to move on and in the mid sixties the Trio Franco was born,
a combo that was to become so much in demand. They sometimes performed
even two or three times a day.
The group was awarded second prize at the first ever-International
Song Festival in Melbourne and went on to record and release a number
of EP's and a full length LP album. One of the highlights of this
period was the collaboration as producers and actors on the weekly
television musical program "Carosello".There followed
an overseas stint on the South Pacific Island of Fiji where the
Trio Franco delighted audiences at many and varied venues.
During this time Franco somehow managed to also teach music and
accordion to many young aspiring musicians and today some of Melbourne's
finest can lay claim to having their careers initiated form those
early lessons.
Franco finally stopped playing and performing in public in 1973
in order to pursue a totally different career path but when he eventually
retired around Christmas 2000 the passion for music returned as
strong as ever.
He decided to devote himself to composing the music he loved and
to date has written some 137 original instrumental works and has
8 CDs to his credit. The first of these, "Tender Feelings"
(released through Colossal Records of Australia), has been featured
by a number of radio stations across the country and currently most
of his music is published by Groovy Music Publishing as well as
several of his compositions are published overseas by Frosini Society.
Franco dedicates the music he writes to his family and friends of
which he has many - not surprising for a man and musician whose
inspiration for composition comes unmistakably from the heart.
Contact:
ciccio_franco@hotmail.com
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