Francesco Cera, after completing his organ and harpsichord studies under Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and Gustav Leonhardt, he is regarded as one of Italy’s leading early music specialists, earning praise for his extensive stylistic knowledge of different musical expressions. Francesco Cera applies his distinctive interpretative approach not only to historical keyboard instruments, but also to baroque vocal and instrumental music. After being member of il Giardino Armonico, he now directs the Ensemble Arte Musica in performances of italian vocal repertoire from late renaissance madrigals to baroque cantatas.
Especially well known as a performer of 17th century italian keyboard composers, he recorded the complete works of Michelangelo Rossi, Bernardo Storace, Tarquinio Merula and Antonio Valente for Tactus, both on harpsichord and historical organs. The same label has produced three recordings of Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord Sonatas taken from the earliest manuscript.
He has performed as a soloist in international festivals in the whole of Europe, such as Musica e Poesia in San Maurizio in Milan, Bologna Festival, Festival Resonanzen Wien, Festival of Flanders in Bruges and Gent, Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache, Musica Transalpina in London, Les Gouts Reunis Lausanne, Musèe d’Art de Neuchatel, Arte organica en Castilla y Leon etc. Label ARTS has recenly issued his recordings of Bach’s French Suites and four Harpsichord Concertos (with I Barocchisti and Diego Fasolis conductor). He was the curator of recently descovered works by Bernardo Pasquini (Edizioni Andromeda). He has held masterclasses and workshops at the Royal Academy of Music London, Acadèmie d’Orgue de Fribourg, the Illinois University, Cornell University, Oberlin College. Since 2001 he has been living in Rome where he is appointed Honorary Inspector of Early Organs for Rome and the Lazio region.