Childhood

Christian Cappelluti was born in Rome, Italy, on August 17, 1975. At the age of six he was enrolled in elementary school at the Beata Caterina di Santa Rosa institute, in his native neighborhood. It was during his elementary school years that he began to show a marked propensity for communication through themes, small poems and compositions. Central date in the life of young Christian is December 25, 1983 when his parents gave him the first guitar, which he nicknamed Katy. From that moment the passion for music was born that will accompany him throughout his short life. Together with the passion for Kung Fu, an activity practiced since the age of 11, he continues in the study of music, finding his true fulfillment in the composition of songs in English, an activity that he will begin to carry out assiduously from the age of 12.

The high school years

During the years of high school, carried out at the Massimo Institute in Rome, he refined his technique as an instrumentalist and composer, and in this period he formed his first band involving his childhood friends in his passion. In high school he meets Costanza, his muse, a young woman for whom he has an unspoken love, but who pushes him to very mature and aware compositions. Although this love will never materialize in a relationship, Costanza will remain for Christian, in the years to come, a leitmotiv of his musical production, so much so that he dedicates “Constance Dream” to her, his first musical project matured during his studies at Wake Forest University . At 16, he spent the summer in the United States at Berklee College to study composition and sound engineering. Back in Rome he will dedicate himself to experimenting with what he has learned in the musical field and at that time he founded the group of “Ocean”. His musical commitment does not hinder his scholastic success so much so that his high school graduation theme will be published by the Ministry of Education as it was selected among the best three hundred of the year.

The University in the USA, perfect pitch, Mina and the Poohs. As soon as he finished his high school exam, Christian moved to the United States where, at Wake Forest University, he graduated summa cum laude in Business and Administration in 1997. His success is evidenced by the awards he has achieved including the Jones Holder Business Scholarship, the Wall Street Journal Award and the Lura Baker Paden for Highest Achievement in Business. He gets admission to Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Gamma Sigma (specialized in the economic sector) and the Golden Key National Honor Society, the highest academic recognition in the world. Members of the Society include Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. It is always in the university period that he begins to be interested in the phenomenon of absolute pitch: he follows courses on the subject and, after years of hard application, he amazes his teachers by proving that this phenomenon can be acquired. In 1995 his first musical project called “The Dream of Constance”, named after Costanza, his inspirational muse, also comes to an end. The project also receives enthusiastic presentations from the specialized magazines Billboard and Music biz. At the age of 20 he began a collaboration with Mina and her son Massimiliano Pani which resulted in the active participation of the young musician in the 1995 CD Pappa di latte. Also in the same years he accompanied the Pooh in concert, thanks to his friendship with Red Canzian, to deepen all the logistical and technical, as well as artistic, dynamics of a tour of a great band.

1998 At the end of his university studies, Christian Cappelluti begins to work actively to crown his ambition to put his album on the American market. In June 1998 he signed his first contract as a “producer” with the lawyer Owen Sloan, an important impresario in the field of American discography, and chose the stage name Chris Cappell. The frenetic activity ahead of the album’s release by the end of the year induces his parents to let him take a short period of rest. He chooses a trip to Scotland with Antonella, the girl he will soon marry. During the trip, however, he will show the first symptoms of problems, not yet fully understood, which will lead him to die on August 9 in the Perth hospital in just three days. In the document drawn up on 11 August, the causes of death are recognized as intracerebral hemorrhage, severe thrombocytopenia and idiopathic marrow aplasia. The tragic event stops the work for the publication of the album which today can be listened for free from the site that Christian’s friends, together with his parents, wanted to open for him.