Luca Turilli (born 5 March 1972)^[1] is an Italiancomposer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist constantly engaged in various musical projects, ranging fromtrance andelectronic music of his first compositions tosymphonic metal inspired by the world of soundtracks and also to modernpop andpiano compositions of his current productions. He is one of the founders of thesymphonic power metal band Rhapsody, later calledRhapsody of Fire,^[1] for which he composed and arranged all music with his colleagueAlex Staropoli from 1997 until 2011.

Luca Turilli
Turilli in 2019
Background information
Born	(1972-03-05)5 March 1972 (age 53) Trieste, Italy
Occupations	Musician composer arranger record producer
Instruments	Guitar keyboards piano
Years active	1993–present
Formerly of	Rhapsody of Fire Turilli / Lione Rhapsody Luca Turilli's Rhapsody Luca Turilli's Dreamquest

In the early 2000s, he also worked on a trilogy of solo albums and released one album under the name of Luca Turilli's Dreamquest, a symphonic metal / rock project combined withelectro pop elements he worked on alongside Dominique Leurquin.^[2] After his split from Rhapsody of Fire, he released three more albums under the nameLuca Turilli's Rhapsody and one under the nameTurilli / Lione Rhapsody. Though his lyrics in Rhapsody of Fire dealt with epics, sword and sorcery high fantasy, namely a saga of his own design, the lyrics of his later albums speak mainly aboutscience,metaphysics,psychology,anthropology and are generally related with the mysteries of life: Turilli's greatest passion after what he started experiencing thanks to his long-termyoga andmeditation practices.^[3]

In 2020, with the piano being one of his favorite instruments, he announced the release of his debut piano album, in the tradition of artists likeYann Tiersen,Ludovico Einaudi andYiruma.^[3]

Turilli was born inTrieste,Venezia Giulia,Italy. His father was a cello player who died when Turilli was only two years old. He inherited his passion forclassical music, and at 16 years old, he started playing guitar. In 1993, Turilli survived cancer at age 21.^[4] At the age of 22, he started playing piano.

In 1993, Turilli founded the band Thundercross, which was renamed Rhapsody after releasing the first demo,^[5] and renamed once again to Rhapsody of Fire for trademark reasons in 2006.

In 2008, Turilli began an online guitar course titledLuca Turilli's Neoclassical Revelation which takes its name from his neoclassical playing style.^[6]

In August 2011, some time after releasing the last album related with the heroic-fantasy saga on which all the lyrics and music of Rhapsody / Rhapsody of Fire were based until then, Turilli and Staropoli proceeded to a friendly split. Alex agreed to go on as Rhapsody of Fire, while Turilli decided to move on asLuca Turilli's Rhapsody, adding his name on top of the logo because of trademark reasons and old legal settlements. In 2015, after releasing the debut album entitledAscending to Infinity, the record company Nuclear Blast released the one defined by Turilli as one of the most important albums of his career:Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus. One year later the same album was released under the titlePrometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic and Live. That album, mixed by producer/mixing engineer Chris Heil (David Bowie,Bryan Adams), was the first one in music history to be mixed inDolby Atmos and its music was used byDolby andYamaha to promote Dolby Atmos technology worldwide.^[3]

From November 2016 to March 2018, Turilli and his former bandmatesFabio Lione andAlex Holzwarth who in the meantime had also left Rhapsody of Fire, gathered to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary by playing their entire best-selling albumSymphony of Enchanted Lands in a tour called the "20th Anniversary Farewell Tour". With the success of the farewell tour, it convinced Turilli and Fabio to go on with Rhapsody, although both had different artistic plans in mind. For legal reasons the new band was calledTurilli / Lione Rhapsody. Both agreed to such plan and to use the same band name only if they could bring something really new to the table, combining their typical symphonic metal approach with all the modern music they like to listen to nowadays, evolving the sound, the image and the lyrical concept of the band to new horizons. To make this more than clear they agreed to entitle the albumZero Gravity (Rebirth and Evolution) and filled it with what they both love: vocal interludes à laQueen, progressive elements à laDream Theater, electronic, ethnic music and more. In both bands, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody and Turilli / Lione Rhapsody, Turilli is the only composer of all music and lyrics, orchestral arrangements and in addition to guitars he also played all the keyboard parts.

In early 2020, Turilli stated in an interview with Steinberg that he feels the constant need to evolve and explore the world of music by creating new projects, finding new artistic goals and stimulations. He is currently working on the debut album of his new band presenting a modern pop/rock sound in the style of some of his actual favorite artists likeAdele and bands likeMuse andImagine Dragons, enriched by electronic, ethnic music and all those symphonic elements which are now a real trademark in his discography. Turilli / Lione Rhapsody later disbanded in February 2023 following a final tour in Latin America, announcing that they would be "closing the chapter of their career for good".^[7]

Early in his career, Turilli was influenced by guitarists such asYngwie Malmsteen,Tony MacAlpine,Marty Friedman and especiallyJason Becker who is considered by him today as the greatest guitarist ever. His lead playing often includes extensive use of sweep picked arpeggios, tremolo picking, classically influenced phrases, and scales such asaeolian,harmonic minor,phrygian,locrian, andmelodic minor. In his latest albums, he introduced new ethnic elements such asHirajoshi andPentatonic scales. As a pianist, his main influences areRomantic pianists likeChopin and contemporary composers such asLudovico Einaudi,Yann Tiersen,Yiruma andPhilip Glass.