Luigi Gaggero, a native of Genoa, has graced the stages of Europe’s most prestigious venues. He is currently Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra as well as musical director and co-founder of the Ukho Ensemble Kyiv, with which he has recorded acclaimed CDs of con- temporary music repertoire. Before launching his conducting career, Gaggero performed for 25 years as a cimbalom player and percussionist, collaborating with the finest European orchestras and ensembles under the direction of distinguished conductors such as Abbado, Barenboim, Boulez, Hannigan, Harnoncourt, Muti, Petrenko, and Rattle. He is professor at the Académie Supérieure de Musique in Strasbourg. 

"A natural gesture is a philosophy of sound, for musicians, for conductors, and can be read in metaphor by anyone who delves deeply into that about which they are passionate. It is a beautiful exploration of a Way. Reading this book makes me eager to get back to the scores, to the practise studio, and to the podium, to strive to serve the music at a deeper and deeper level. And also, to realize that it is not just burying oneself in music but the authentic and healthy being one must nourish through philosophy, self-realization and rhetoric, to reach the silence which precedes the sound. "- From the Preface by Barbara Hannigan