| Birth Date: | about 1890 |
| Birth Place: | Rome, Italy |
| Death Date: | (aged 77) |
| Occupation: | Composer and conductor |
Nino Marcelli (about 1890[1] – August 4, 1967)[2] was an Italian composer and conductor who revived the San Diego Symphony orchestra.[3] Marcelli wrote compositions for musical theatre and oratorio including one for the Bohemian Club.
Marcelli was born in Rome, Italy, about 1890. When he was a small child, his family moved to Santiago, Chile, and he attended the National Music Conservatory.[3] He became bandmaster to a U.S. Army band during World War I, and toured France. Marcelli became a United States citizen in 1917.[4] After the war, Marcelli settled in San Francisco with a position as cellist in the San Francisco Symphony.[3] In November 1920, Marcelli accepted a position to lead the high school orchestra in San Diego, there being but one high school at the time: San Diego High School. Under his leadership, the youth orchestra gained a national reputation in the 1920s, playing radio broadcasts and concerts in Los Angeles.[3]
In 1922, Marcelli wrote the music for a Grove Play entitled The Rout of the Philistines, a libretto written by Charles Gilman Norris. He reported later that he had been inspired by the operas of Pietro Mascagni.[5] Marcelli used four main themes for Philistine: the theme of Dagon, the God of the Philistines; the theme of Saph, the nobility of the race; the theme of Saph's love for humanity and his belief in brotherhood; and the theme of the forest.
Frustrated with the lack of future professional-level musician work for his graduating high school pupils, Marcelli revived an idea that had for years lain dormant in San Diego: a civic symphony orchestra. He obtained funding from Appleton S. Bridges and reformed the Civic Symphony Orchestra; the first concert was held at Spreckels Theater on April 11, 1927.[3] The 80-strong ensemble, including vocalist Dusolina Giannini from Philadelphia, flawlessly played the prelude from Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathétique and Marche Slave, and Anatoly Lyadov's Enchanted Lake.[5] In following years, the organization played summer concerts at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the Starlight Bowl.[3] Marcelli served as musical director from 1927 to 1938.[3] The organization soon became known as the "San Diego Symphony," and was backed by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra Association.[6]
In 1937, Marcelli published two instructional books, one for cellists and the other for bass players,[7] and in 1939 he published an instructional book for orchestra and band.[8]
Marcelli spoke as a guest lecturer at University of Southern California, University of Idaho, Western State College of Colorado and the California Music Colony.[4] He served as guest conductor for the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.[4] Marcelli conducted the Ford Symphony at the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935 and 1936.[4]
In 1940, Marcelli served as the Master of San Diego's Grand Lodge.[9] In 1950, he joined with George A. Finder to create a multi-colored plastic ukulele that would aid instruction.[10]
At Marcelli's death, aged 77, in August 1967, the San Diego Tribune memorialized him, saying: