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Massimo Nosetti, organist and composer, died Nov. 12 at the age of 53 after being diagnosed with cancer in October.

Famed organist/composer Massimo Nosetti succumbs to cancer

By 
  • November 13, 2013
Concerto in G minor, Op. 177 Mov. 2, by Josef Rheinberger (1839 - 1901) Organist: Massimo Nosetti, Conductor: Philip Sarabura, Orchestra: ORGANIX Festival Orchestra

Massimo Nosetti, organist and composer, died Nov. 12 at the age of 53 after being diagnosed with cancer in October.

Mr. Nosetti, a champion of the “King of Instruments,” was Director of Music at the Turin Cathedral from 1979 to 1994, titular organist at the Basilica of Santa Rita in Turin since 1981, and was appointed titular Cathedral organist by the archbishop of Turin in 2005. He gave frequent recitals and master classes all over the world, and was active in promoting organ building and Church music as a member of the Diocesan Commission of Sacred Music and as a consultant of the National Commission for Sacred Music.

"For the secular music, there is not a big difference (from sacred music) in my opinion. If you serve it as a good performer, you must go inside the music and find the right feeling to show the music to the audience. So that's probably not a 'religious' feeling, but it is an esthetic feeling, and esthetic and beautiful things are always connected with something spiritual," Mr. Nosetti told The Catholic Register in May 2012.

Mr. Nosetti was noted for being a man of great talent who was also humble in spirit and full of passion for his artistry

“What struck me about Massimo was his very gentle character," said Gordon Mansell, Organix founder, who first met Nosetti when he came to Toronto to perform in the Organix music festival. "He was so grateful for the opportunity to share his music with Toronto. As a cathedral organist in Torino, Italy, he was no stranger to performing, yet he was so very unassuming. Here is a fellow one might assume would come with a big attitude. However, this was not the case.

“Today, the words people throughout the world are expressing are: gracious, kind, gentle and a gem of a man. He is, in my mind, a person who fully understood that his musical talents were a gift from God,” said Mansell.

Mr. Nosetti said performing at Organix and in Toronto was always special to him, and that Toronto audiences were always appreciative of his work.

“There are a few places in the world where you perform in a venue or space that stay in your heart and your mind more than others,” said Mr. Nosetti.

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