Antonio Giacometti was born in Brescia (1957). He later graduated with a degree in composition from the Milan Conservatory; he simultaneously pursued an education in the humanities and pedagogy.
His compositions have won prizes and mentions in twenty national and international competitions. Among these competitions are: Rome's Premio V. Bucchi (1982 and 1988), Concours international de composition pour guitare de Sablé sur Sarthe” (1983 and 1987), Turin's Secondo concorso internazionale Antidogma musica” (1985), Trio Basso Köln Internationaler Kompositions-Wettbewerb (1988,) Cagliari's IX Concorso nazionale di composizione Ennio Porrino (1991), Warsaw's Kazimierz Serocki 7th International composers' competition ( 2000), IV City of Udine international composition award (2002), Una nuova opera per un nuovo pubblico/International Childrens’ Opera Competition (Fiesole, Firenze 2004), Alessandria's I Premio di composizione “Carlo Mosso” ( 2006).
From 1981 on, his compositions have been performed in Italy (“Musica Attuale” and “Nuovi spazi sonori;” Brescia: “Festival di musica da camera; Ferentino: “Festival chitarristico di Lagonegro;” “Festival chitarristico bustese;” “Rassegna di nuova musica di Macerata;” “Nuova musica italiana;” Roma: “Festival di musica contemporanea del Coretto;” Bari: “Festival Spaziomusica di Cagliari:” "Festival pianistico internazionale di Brescia e Bergamo") and abroad (France, Spain, Germany, Finland, the former Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Japan, USA, Australia) and have been well-received by both critics and audiences.
In 1984, Giacometti began publishing contributions to the field of musical pedagogy in Italian specialized journals and in 1988 he co-authored a textbook about music education in elementary schools. To this day, he is continues intense teaching activity and conducts seminars and clinics for music educators.
Giacometti, who is also interested in musical analysis, especially in the pedagogical implications of the discipline for musical composition, in 1989 was one of the founding members of the Società Italiana di Analisi Musicale (SidAM). He still contributes to the journal of the society Analisi (published by Ricordi) and he was elected to its governing board for the years 1995-2001.
In 1995, the publisher “Rugginenti” (Milan) released the recording “Trame e percorsi”, which contained a collection of Giacometti's chamber music that he had written from from 1981 to 1993.
In October 1996 the Musikhochschule Detmold (Stadt Münster) invited him to present his own works for a week-long festival; there was a focus on works for and with guitar. At the end of the week, students from the hochschule performed some of Giacometti’s pieces in a final open concert.
In 1997, for Ricordi Editions, Giacometti translated into Italian a German-language Zsolt Gardonyi book on the structure of fugue in J. S. Bach.
In September 1997 his guitarconcert “Zone di confine” was premiered during the Alicante Contemporary Music Festival in Spain with the Madrid chamber orchestra “Reina Sofia;” Ramon Encina conducted and Wolfgang Weigel soloed.
From 1998 to 2001, he coordinated the Arcana Composer’s Meeting, a project aiming to offer to young composers from all over the world a chance to hear their own work, to work with their colleagues, and to learn about more recent productions of invited composers.
In 1999 Rugginenti published his new book on first level composition didactics: Linguaggi e forme per inventare.
In September 2000 his violin concerto The Rime of the Young Navigator was premiered by the Orchestra dei pomeriggi musicali di Milano (Simone Fontanelli, conductor, and Francesco Ugolini, soloist).
In 2001 Curci Musical Editions (Milan) published his book for children Insieme per suonare, insieme per capire, a new approach to teaching music to children through ensembles.
In 2003 Edizioni Curci Milan published his Italian translation of an American manual on counterpoint: H. Owen's Counterpoint from Josquin to Strawinskj.
In June 2003 the MMC (Master Musicians Collective) released his orchestral work Il tempo, grande scultore with the Moravian Symphony orchestra (Vit Micka, director).
In October 2004 the childrens’ opera “Volevo un foglio” was performed during the “Maggio Musicale fiorentino” 2003-2004 Season.
In June 2005 his work was premiered at the Roman Arena of Susa (Turin) as part of the 2006Turin Olympic Winter Games.
In May 2006 his work “Sehnsucht und Traum” was selected by a jury and was performed and recorded at Hungarian Radio for the cycle “Hommage à Bartók”
In September 2007, the MMC (Master Musicians Collective) released his piece Quando i venti del mondo mi portarono la voce dei tamburi for large orchestraand four Djembeés with the Moravian Symphony Orchestra (Vit Micka, director).
Currently he is composing an opera based on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (libretto by Paolo Montanari).
Giacometti’s compositions are published by Rugginenti, Ricordi, Suvini-Zerboni, Bérben, EDI-PAN and Editions Musicales Delatour.
Further information can be found at Giacometti’s official web site: www.a-giacometti.it.
