Nicola Piovani

Nicola Piovani (born 26 May 1946) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music and film, television, and theatrical scores. A graduate of the Verdi Conservatory and pupil of Manos Hatzidakis, he began his professional career in the 1960s, and has written over 190 film scores since 1968. He is known for his collaborations with eminent directors like Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Monicelli, Nanni Moretti, and the Taviani Brothers. Piovani succeeded Nino Rota as Federico Fellini’s go-to composer for his final three films. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful (1997). Aside from his film scores, Piovani also works in musical theatre and opera, and also writes concert and chamber music. Life and career After high school, Piovani enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, receiving his degree in piano from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1967, and later studied orchestration under the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. In 1971 and 1973 collaborated for the music of two albums of the songwriter Fabrizio De André: Storia di un impiegato and Non al denaro non all’amore né al cielo. In 2008, after De