The beginning, more than 100 years ago:

Italy, at the end of the nineteenth century, was a country with an economy based mainly on agriculture, but slowly, industry was beginning to grow with the social and economic changes. In a small village called Mondaino, in the region of Romagna, Antonio Galanti lived with his family, and earned his living travelling to towns and villages with his Merry-go-Round, bringing pleasure through music to the local inhabitants. But music was his real passion and he devoted much of his time to designing and developing the first Galanti musical accordion.

Electronic Musical Instruments: 

In 1959, Antonio’s nephew’s sons, one of whom was Marcello, established a new company heralding the entry of Galanti musical expertise into electronic musical instruments. Ahead of the times as usual, they developed and built the first electronic organ to be made in Italy. The first technology used sound generators with neon lights, then followed transistors and integrated circuits, until the present day of "PCM" and "modelling" working on DSP. In 1969, Marcello left his brothers and founded Intercontinental Electronics S.p.A., to devote himself to the manufacturing of electronic classic organs. Initially, technical and sales exertions were directed especially towards the Dutch and American markets, where organ culture was more widespread. The company created an interest and desire for musical accomplishment, and its highly technical and sophisticated instruments were much in demand by its many buyers.

Viscount International SpA

Sadly, in 1999 Marcello died. However, his son Mauro and his daughter Loriana continued to develop the company. The present Viscount company represents a unique example of engineering and musical instrument production in Europe. There are many reasons behind the worldwide success of Viscount classic organs, recognised everywhere as among the best sounding instruments. First of all the unique experience in electronic organ sound, beginning with analogue, through the digital era (Viscount was among the very first to produce PCM classic organs) down to the physical modelling of the pipes; the worldwide contact network in the different cultural fields from Baroque to Romantic, from French to German styles; the wide library of sounds in all areas; all this makes every Viscount organ a real state of the art specimen. Viscount is the only classic organ manufacturer currently producing instruments with both the available types of technology: Sampling (PCM) and Pipe Acoustics Modelling (Accupipe), offering in each case the right instrument for the best artist.

(pictured: Marcello Galanti)

 Andrea Angelini, Director of the Competition

The Competition can boast the Sponsorship of
the President of the European Commission, the President of the Republic of Italy, 
the Emilia Romagna Region , the Province of Rimini, Mondaino Town Council.

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