GIANFRANCO LOMBARDI

Born: June 25th, 1941, Naples (Italy)

Died: October 1st, 2020, San Lorenzello (Italy)

Nationality: Italian

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Gianfranco Lombardi was Mina’s pianist and, from the early 1970s onwards, orchestrated songs for many pop singers, including Ornella Vanoni, Angelo Branduardi, Riccardo Fogli, Giorgio Gaber, and Patty Pravo. For Drupi, he arranged the 1973 San Remo entry and international hit ‘Vado via’. He was the musical director of all San Remo Festivals between 1997 and 2001 and conducted many songs participating in this contest between the early 1970s and mid-2000s.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Gianfranco Lombardi conducted the 1987 Italian entry ‘Gente di mare’, sung by Umberto Tozzi & Raf. This song, composed by the singers in cooperation with lyricist Giancarlo Bigazzi, finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brussels and went on to become a chart success in various European countries.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1987 Brussels

Country – Italy

Song title – "Gente di mare"

Rendition – Umberto Tozzi & Raf 

Lyrics – Giancarlo Bigazzi

Composition – Raffaele Riefoli / Umberto Tozzi

Studio arrangement – Umberto Tozzi / Raffaele Riefoli / Giancarlo Bigazzi / Gianfranco Lombardi

(studio orchestra conducted by Gianfranco Lombardi)

Live orchestration – Gianfranco Lombardi

Conductor – Gianfranco Lombardi

Score – 3rd place (103 votes)