Welcome to Broadway Stages’ Spotlight, where we feature local shops, restaurants, organizations, individuals, and venues. During October, we celebrate Italian-American Heritage and National Arts & Humanities! In recognition, we bring you the proverbial Renaissance man, Dr. Matteo Rini who brings these and many other aspects to the table!

Dr. Matteo Rini is well-known and respected in the world of science. He began his career with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pavia in his home country of Italy. Then, he moved to Germany, where he gained his Ph.D. in Physics from Humboldt University in Berlin. Matteo first came to the U.S. to work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While he was there, he developed new laser and x-ray technology. 

Later, he came to New York City, where he is now the Editor of the American Physical Society’s Physics Magazine. He also teaches communication in science at NYU. But his world also includes artistic endeavors.

Between 2014-2019, Matteo curated the music program of Planeta, an innovative sound and media enterprise that offered a live-music venue in Manhattan. He also plays guitar with NYC Latin bands Tinto Frio and Matapena. 

In about 2016, he entered the orbit of NOoSPHERE Arts. First, he began going to their monthly artist salons. Then he began accompanying some of the performers on guitar — it was a natural fit. They held shared beliefs that the worlds of science and art are complementary, not in conflict. Moreover, NOoSPHERE Arts’ dedication to the health of our environment paralleled his own. Today he serves as their Director of Music and Science, working to build bridges between science and art.

Matteo is particularly proud of his work on “Memory Bites,” a dance-theater program. This work was inspired by Matteo’s conversations with a woman experiencing the onset of Alzheimer’s. He saw this person’s unique relationship with food with her memories. She was recreating and reliving the recipes from her youth. 

Along with choreographer Daniel Fetecua, Matteo crafted a story that presented the topic of the erratic and challenging nature of memories in the descent of Alzheimer’s. The program was presented in 2018 at the NYC Latitude Dance Festival. 

If you are looking for Dr. Rini today, a good place to find him might be NOoSPHERE Arts’ massive warehouse loft, Last Frontier NYC. This space usually serves as the painting Studio for Broadway Stages’ artist in residence and founder of NOoSPHERE Arts, Sol Kjøk. But on occasion, it becomes “a presentation arena for international artists across multiple disciplines: a campfire where the creative tribe can share its stories.” Or, as Matteo says, it is a place where anyone can feel welcome to explore “The fascination and mystery of the world and how we relate to those mysteries as a human.”