(Carate Brianza, 1943) With a degree in Classics and several years of experience as a literature teacher, Roberto Vecchioni is perhaps the most “professorial” among Italy’s Cantautori. His song writing is often markedly literary, in both themes and style, and he also published novels and essays. Vecchioni is also noted for winning the Festival di Sanremo in 2011, thus reconciling two worlds — the showcase of Italy’s mainstream music and the counterculture of the canzone d’autore — that had been in sharp opposition.