Alberto Schiavo
*5 April 1983
Works by Alberto Schiavo
Biography
Alberto Schiavo (1983) started composing when he was eleven as a self-taught person and held his first public concert in the late 90's.
His compositions include orchestral, vocal and chamber music works and have been performed all over the world by many different orchestras, choirs and ensembles including the Tonkünstler-Orchesters Niederösterreich, the Bath Philharmonia, the Saint Ephraim Male Choir of Budapest, the Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki, the Estonian National Male Choir (RAM), Vancouver Chamber Choir, Quartetto Prometeo and Milano Saxophone Quartet as well as by soloists such as Francesca Dego, Francesca Leonardi, Nicolas Deletaille, Hélène Blesch and others.
His works have also been broadcasted by KlassikaRaadio (Estonia), Radio Bartok (Hungary), WNYU Radio (New York) and RadiostART (Italy) in Hungary, Italy, France, England and United States.
In 2013 he has been nominated composer in residence by the Estonian National Male Choir and has been invited to make a lecture about his work as a composer at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. In the same year he made his debut as a conductor with the Chamber Orchestra of the Tonkünstler-Orchesters Niederösterreich during the renowned Grafenegg Festival (Austria).
Prizes include:
- Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prize For Composition 2011 (Belgium - finalist)
- Paderewsky International Composition Competition 2011 (Poland - 2nd prize - no first awarded)
- Tim International Music Tournament 2012 (Paris)
- First International Jean Sibelius composition competition (Finland - finalist)
- 2005 International Composition Prize Musici Mojanesi (1st prize)
- 2006 International Composition Prize Opera Prima (3rd prize)
- Premio Nazionale Delle Arti 2009 (Rome - 1st prize)
- GAM Composition Prize 2010 (Milan)
- Premio AGIMUS 2010 (Rome)
- Pomeriggio Tra Le Muse 2010
- Premio Discografico Fondazione Masi 2018
- Prize Giovanni Colombo Flores D’Arcais 2011 (Italy - 1st prize)
- Ink Still Wet 2013 (Austria)
- Sound Connections Competition for composers 2013/14 (Bath - UK - finalist)
Alberto Schiavo studied composition with Giovanni Bonato at the Conservatory of Padua (graduated cum laude and special mention) and with Salvatore Sciarrino at the Chigiana Academy in Siena. He studied also clarinet with Ezio Gavasso at the Conservatory of Vicenza (graduated full marks) and musicology with Anna Laura Bellina (graduated cum laude from the Padua University).
He is currently professor at the Conservatory “C. Pollini” in Padua (Italy).
About the music
In Schiavo’s thinking composing is basically an attempt to discover himself and his relationships with others, with creation and with God. Talking about his Stabat Mater, once he said “when I compose, I embark myself on an inner spiritual journey that has as its definitive goal, if not understanding, at least the investigation of myself and my relationships with others, with the creation and with God. In a certain sense I consider all my compositions as sacred works, not for boastfulness but for the sacredness of the creative act itself. I think that music is not simply a succession of more or less organized sounds but rather the relationships between these sounds: it is these relationships that give life to music; just as the relationships between human beings and creation, I believe, give direction to the life”.