Ad Lucem is a musical project composed and performed by Paolo Palazzo and inspired by the paintings of the brothers Krzysztof and Michał Powałka. The sacredness of the Latin texts, taken from the Tenebrae and from other writings based on the same subject, blends with a cinematic and multiform sound. The vocal pieces, performed by the sopranos Cristina Fanelli and Graziana Palazzo, with the featuring of the cellist Gaetano Simone with the kamanchech in the piece “Rex Israel”, and the interpretation by the organist Leonardo Carrieri of the toccata “Velum templi scissum est”, crystallise the faith and sentiment of pious women and disciples; the instrumental pieces instead refer to the violence of Jesus’s persecutors on Calvary.

Paolo Palazzo’s musical studies include a Bachelor of Music in Organ and Composition from the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music (Monopoli); he completed two Master of Music in Organ performance and Music Education, both with honours. He also studied composition with Roberto Beccaceci, choir conducting with Filippo Maria Bressan. He attended baroque organ praxis classes with Lorenzo Ghielmi, Maurizio Croci and Michael Kapsner; Roman-Catholic liturgical music studies under C.E.I. He has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician in Italy, Finland, USA and Indonesia. From 2013 he has played as organist joining the baroque ensemble of the Festival della Valle d’Itria. He works as teacher, performer and composer, for international motion pictures and commercial campaigns. Some of his original compositions were made for many brands’ productions: Kellogg’s, Audi, Reebok, Renault. In 2014 he worked as Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Repetiteur in various degree programmes at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences through the LLP Leonardo da Vinci Placement. Although he prefers the counterpoint, he happily collaborates with pop artists: on February 2018, he arranged and conducted the orchestral version of Custodire, by Renzo Rubino – featuring Serena Rossi (Warner Music), at the “Festival di Sanremo” (Rai).