Raffaello Morales

Raffaello Morales was born in Rome in 1987. His education was somehow eclectic, but his rule-of-thumb choice of academic curricula was always that of pursuing what you are worst at. Despite his pathetic marks in the hard sciences, he chose physics for his undergraduate degree and continued specialising in music despite having been told by a piano luminary that playing the piano the way he did was at most good to pick up girls in a bar. Quite unsurprisingly he developed a capillary knowledge of the best bars in town (even those without a piano!). Having decided early on that he had no intention of becoming an academic researcher in physics, he moved to London to study Theoretical Physics at Imperial College. A PhD in Applied Mathematics from King’s College London was the obvious next step, though admittedly he did try to veer off the hard sciences here and stepped into the world of complex systems and mathematical finance. He landed a job in derivatives risk management at an American bank whose founder and namesake, differently from his two main competitors, decided not to board the Titanic on its maiden voyage. He thought that such cunning deserved to be at least acknowledged. Instead of quietly getting financially comfortable like the average, he took up conducting and started an orchestra inside the bank, trying to convince the management to use its profit to advance culture and entertainment. He was told that banks were supposed to make money, not spend it. The bank and he also profoundly disagreed over the corporate compliance policy, a battle that he was not expected to win. He did succeed though in enjoying some unforgettable exchanges with the bank's HR department that one day will be made available for public entertainment. Moving on to much more risky business than risk management, but at least not concerned with buying a three-bedroom flat in zone 3 with the help of a 25-year mortgage paid to a bank, possibly its former employer, in 2019 he founded Fidelio, with its associated café and orchestra. In theory the idea was very simple: to create a physical space for people to have fun with good music and good parties. In practice it was a nightmare, thanks to a global pandemic that hit six months later. Despite his familiarity with risk management, the eventuality of a global lockdown had not been part of his business plan. Undeterred by Covid and possibly contributing to its international spreading, he boarded a plane back to his hometown just in time to fall ill with a remarkably high fever that lasted almost two weeks. When he recovered, he spent two months of lockdown contemplating failure. This is when things started to be really interesting, but unfortunately the space available here has run out so for what happens next, get in touch...