Sylvano Bussotti

Sylvano Bussotti

Born in Florence in 1931, Sylvano Bussotti began to study violin (with Margherita Castellani) when he was about five years old. He studied harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire “Luigi Cherubini” of Florence with Roberto Lupi and piano with Luigi Dallapiccola, but he had to interrupt his studies because of the outbreack of the war. Major early influences came from his brother Renzo and his uncle Tono Zancanaro, both painters, and later meeting with poet Aldo Baibanti. From 1956 to 1958 he attended private courses with Max Deutsch in Paris, met Pierre Boulez and Heinz-Klaus Metzger, which led him to Darmstadt, where he met John Cage. In 1958, in Germany, he began his public activity, with the execution of his compositions by the pianist David Tudor, followed by the presentation in Paris of compositions performed by Cathy Berberian under the guidance of Pierre Boulez.

Universal Edition and, later, the editors Moeck and Bruzzichelli began publishing his scores. Since 1956 he eventually strengthened ties with Ricordi.

He lived in the USA from 1964 to 1965, invited by the Rockfeller Foundation, after having held three prizes from SIMC in 1961, 1963 and 1965. In 1967 he received the prize “All’Amelia” of the Biennale di Venezia, in 1974 the prize “Toscani d’Oggi” and in 1979 the Prize Psacaropulo in Turin. In 1972 he resided in Berlin for a year as a guest of the DAAD for the Ford Foundation.

He collaborated with the magazines “Discoteca”, “Musica/Realtà” and “Piano Time”. He published the literary text ” I miei teatri”, the poems “Letterati ignoranti” and on his dramatic works, the illustrated texts “Moda e Musica” and “L’Opera di Sylvano Bussotti”. He’s been artistic director of the Teatro La Fenice of Venice and of the Festival Pucciniano of Torre del Lago. Since 1980 he has taught the history of musical theatre in the Accademia delle Belle Arti of L’Aquila. He has been teacher of composition and analysis at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

In addition to his musical work, Bussotti is also interested in drawing and painting; with art exhibitions organised in various countries all over the world. From his concert activity he developed work in theatre which led him to be interested in cinema and television. Sicne 1965, the fundamental aspect of his activity is organising spectacles of musical theatre, in which he realises the synthesis of his creative experience; spectacles, named today BUSSOTTIOPERABALLET (B.O.B.). The SpectacleSchool, which he founded in 1974 in Genazzano, aims at organising concerts, spectacles, art exhibitions and meetings.