Vittorio Giannini

Vittorio Giannini (October 19, 1903 – November 28, 1966) was an American neoromantic composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works, and member of the Giannini family. Life and work Giannini, who was of Italian heritage, was born in Philadelphia on October 19, 1903. His father, Ferruccio, was born in Ponte d’Arbia, Tuscany, and his mother, Antonietta (née Briglia), was born in Marsicovetere, Basilicata; both immigrated to the U.S. in the 1880s. He began as a violinist under the tutelage of his mother; he would go on to study violin and composition at the Milan Conservatory on scholarship, and then to take his graduate degree at the Juilliard School. He returned to Juilliard to teach, moving on to the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music. His students included Herbie Hancock, Nicolas Flagello, David Amram, Mark Bucci, Alfred Reed, Anthony Iannaccone, M. William Karlins, Irwin Swack, John Corigliano, Adolphus Hailstork, Rolande Maxwell Young, Thomas Pasatieri, Avraham Sternklar, Mary Lynn Twombly, Michele Levin, and Nancy Bloomer Deussen. Giannini was the founder and first president of the North Carolina School of the Arts