Giovanni Piacentini is a composer whose body of work is as diverse as his cultural background. Born in Mexico City to an Italian father, a doctor, an opera lover, and a Mexican mother, a figurative painter, he was exposed to a wide range of artistic expressions that helped shape his musical vision.
graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music with a degree in composition and electronic music. He began to compose his first instrumental works such as «chaotic transformations» for two marimbas that premiered at the Boston Public Library, as well as «Triptych» for piano trio. It was then that he wrote his first piece for guitar «Suite Lacanja», a programmatic work inspired by the landscape of the Lacanja River in southern Mexico.
Giovanni dove deep into the more experimental sounds of Ligeti and Xenakis while exploring the medieval and renaissance polyphony of Josquin Des Pres and Palestrina. In a seminar with the Mexican composer Víctor Rasgado, he realized that he needed to broaden his knowledge and experience and decided to continue his studies abroad. He sent samples of his work to several established composers, including Dr. Richard Danielpour, who later invited him to study privately in his studio in New York. He
Maestro Danielpour was instrumental in the discovery of his own voice. Noting a strong will, discipline, and a voracious appetite for learning, he encouraged Giovanni to apply to the Master of Composition program at the Manhattan School of Music.
After two years immersed in school and in the New York City composition circle, Giovanni earned his master's degree in composition, graduating with honors. He edited works for guitar commissioned by Sharon Isbin and David Starobin. He assisted his mentor, Dr. Danielpour, with premieres that included a piano concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and a full-scale Oratorio with the Pacific Symphony. He performed as part of the Manhattan School of Music Choir (directed by Kent Tritle) at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Since then Giovanni has been very active as a composer. He has received commissions and worked with various ensembles including the Harp Duo, "Duo Scorpio" in New York, the Irish Viola and Fiddle Duo "Collailm Duo", the "Music of Reality" Concert Series in Boston, MA, acclaimed violinist Tim Fain, the "Mexiam" festival in San Francisco, CA, the "Havana Quartet" in Havana, Cuba, the "Minneapolis Guitar Quartet", the St. Cecilia Guild in Delaware, the "Lyris Quartet" string quartet », the festival «Du Vert
to L'Infini" in Dijon, France and the UCLA Wind Symphony.
He was nominated for an Independent Music Award for his solo album "Between Worlds". Likewise, his work "Alebrijes" for solo flute appeared in a thesis on emerging Latin American composers at the University of Utah.
He received his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is also an associate professor of music theory and ear training. As part of his thesis, he composed a concerto for Guitar and Orchestra for the legendary Guitarist Eliot Fisk that was premiered in 2022 by the Carlos Chavez Symphony Orchestra with Mtro. Fisk as a soloist. He was recently named a "Teaching Artist Fellow" by the prestigious Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He currently resides in Los Angles, California where he is Professor of Music at Mount San Antonio University and the National Children's Chorus.
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