ORAZIO SCIORTINO

Orazio Sciortino, named Composer of the Year 2024 at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), is an Italian pianist, composer, and conductor.
His works have been performed and presented at leading venues including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro La Fenice, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Megaron of Athens, and many others.

His discography includes recordings for Dynamic, Limen Music, Claves, and Sony Classical, among them the complete recording of Liszt’s piano paraphrases on Verdi operas.

As a composer, Orazio Sciortino has written chamber, symphonic, and music-theatre works. In 2015 he composed La Paura, an opera on the First World War commissioned by Teatro Coccia of Novara and inspired by the Sicilian writer Federico De Roberto.

For the 2016/2017 season of Teatro alla Scala, he wrote La Gattomachia, a musical tale for narrator, violin, and string ensemble inspired by the Spanish poet Lope de Vega.

In 2025 he presents Maxima Immoralia, a chamber opera for voices and instruments, for which he wrote both music and libretto, exploring the relationship between eros and popular culture. The work was commissioned by Festival Aperto (Reggio Emilia) in co-production with the Cantiere Internazionale di Montepulciano.

Appointed Krug Ambassador in 2016, he composed Lives through a Glass for the champagne house, later included in his album Self Portrait, released by Sony Classical.

He has recently recorded C.P.E. Bach – Piano Concertos and Other Works for Solo Piano as both pianist and conductor with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto for Hänssler Classic.

He is Professor of Piano and Head of the Piano Department at the Conservatory of Brescia.

He lives in Milan and enjoys cooking.