Massimiliano Guido is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Musicology and Cultural Heritage of Pavia University, Italy, where he teaches courses in history of music theory and history of musical instruments. Previously he served as a Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Canada, working with Peter Schubert on a project about the art of memory at the keyboard as a tool for teaching counterpoint (2012–14). He was the principal investigator of the research project Improvisation in Classical Music Education: Rethinking our Future by Learning our Past, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2013–14). He holds degrees in musicology (Pavia Univ. Doctorate and Laurea, Göteborg Univ. Master of Music Research), organ (Parma Conservatory, Italy), and harpsichord (Como Conservatory, Italy). He combines musicological research with organ teaching and performance.
The book 'offers a first systematic exploration of the tight relationship between improvisation, music theory and practical musicianship from the late Renaissance to the Baroque period' (though one of the most interesting chapters, by the Italian scholar Giorgio Sanguinetti, extends to an examination of 'incomplete notation' in Mozart's keyboard music, and how this might be 'realised'). -Tom Cooper, The Consort Early Music Journal, vol.74, Summer 2018 The rich panorama of historical techniques and traditions illuminated by Guido's collection will be of interest to scholars, instructors, and practitioners alike. Indeed, it is the counterpoint among philological work, active music-making, and old teaching made new that generates such insight; the treatment of these traditions under one cover highlights connections between scholarship and practice on the one hand, and among different styles within the book's chronological window (1500-1750) on the other hand. ... The collection demonstrates that the project of historical improvisation can indeed succeed through the ongoing collective efforts of, and the dialogues between, scholars and practitioners. - Gilad Rabinovitch, Music Theory Online, vol. 23, no. 4, December 2017