Matteo Franceschini 
Composer 
Under the name TOVEL, Matteo Franceschini explores the figure of the singer-songwriter to develop a sound “from within”: composition, when confronted with instrumental practice, opens new perspectives on the theatrical awareness of the sonic gesture. His direct engagement on stage and his close collaboration with other musicians constitute a true creative act: transforming the score into sonic energy. TOVEL blurs the boundaries between written creation (the score) and improvisation during performance, while seeking to blur the line between performers and audience.
Born into a family of musicians, he began studying composition with his father before training at the Milan Conservatory. He then furthered his studies at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, followed by the Composition and Music Computing program at IRCAM in Paris.
Silver Lion for Music at the Venice Biennale (2019), SACD New Talent in Music Award (2024), and laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation. In 2014, he received the Fedora – Rolf Liebermann Prize for Opera, and in 2011, the title of Italian Affiliated Fellow in the Arts awarded by the American Academy in Rome. 
He composes operas, symphonic, choral, and chamber music works, performances, choreographic projects, and film scores (notablyVermiglio, nominated for the Golden Globes and the 2025 Oscars). 
His artistic universe is rooted in the power and exploration of the meaning of narrative content, as well as in the need to blend languages from different traditions, following the principles of contrast and fusion. His research into timbre informs his work, which reveals a dreamlike world and a keen sense of musical narrative and theatricality. 
He regularly collaborates with soloists, choreographers, directors, and artists such as Renaud Capuçon, Bertrand Chamayou, Francesco Tristano, Silvia Gribaudi, Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli, Maura Delpero, Jacopo Mazzonelli, 1024architecture, and Seconde Creative Design. He receives commissions from prestigious institutions such as the Filarmonica della Scala, the Venice Biennale, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Ircam–Centre Pompidou, the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Opéra de Saint-Étienne, the Grand Théâtre de Provence, the Opéra Grand Avignon, the Milano Musica Festival, the Haydn Foundation, and the Philharmonic Academy of Rome.
After being named an associate artist of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Philharmonic Academy of Rome, and the Haydn Foundation, he is composer-in-residence at the Opéra Grand Avignon for the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 seasons. Since 2011, his works have been published by Casa Ricordi – Universal Music Publishing. — tovelmusic.com