Aldo Clementi

Aldo Clementi
Aldo Clementi (Catania 1925) began his piano studies at thirteen, and received his diploma in 1946 under the guidance of Giovanna Ferro, a student of Alfredo Casella. He continued studies with Alfredo Sangiorgi (who studied with Schoenberg in Vienna), who introduced him to the technique of twelve-tone composition. He studied in Rome with Goffredo Petrassi (1952-54). From 1955 to 1962, he attended the courses at Darmstadt. His meeting Bruno Maderna in 1956 opened new horizons and marked a decisive turning point in his musical thought. Attendance at the Studio of Phonology in Milan (1956-62) constituted another fundamentally important stage in his development.

In 1959 he won second prize in the ISCM competition with Episodi and in 1963 he was awarded first prize in the same competition for Sette scene da “Collage” (1961).

From 1971 to 1992 he taught music theory at the University of Bologna (DAMS) and is frequently invited to give guest lectures and composition courses at major festivals and institutions. In 2005, numerous monographic concerts celebrated the composer’s eightieth birthday; in particular, the University of Catania (Università degli Studi) organised an international conference on Clementi’s music, during which the composer was conferred with the laurea honoris causa. At the Festival “Suoni e Colori in Toscana” (Rignano sull’Arno – Firenze) the composer was awarded the “Presidente della Repubblica”. He also has received the DAMS Special Prize for his career from the University of Bologna.
(Biography courtesy Edizioni Suvini Zerboni)