Born in Palermo in 1947, he started composing at the age of 12  and held his first public concert in 1962. He moved to Rome  in 1969 and Milan in 1977; since 1983, he has lived in Città di  Castello, Umbria. His contacts with composers such as Antonio  Titole, Turi Belfiore, and Franco Evangelisti notwithstanding, he  is self-taught as a composer and has studied music predominantly  by reading scores of modern and ancient composers. He became  artistic director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna at the age  of 30 (1978–80).

His awards include the prestigious Premio Internazionale Feltrinelli (2003) and the newly created Salzburg Music Prize (2006).  In 2006, Sciarrino’s opera Da gelo a gelo, coproduced by Schwetzingen Festival, Opéra National de Paris, and Grand Théâtre de  Genève, was performed to great acclaim. In 2008 La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra performed his 4 Adagi; 12 Madrigali were  premiered in the summer of the same year in a portrait series dedicated to him by Salzburg Festival. His works are now performed  throughout the world, and his discography includes over 70 CDs. Salvatore Sciarrino is very active as a music teacher. He taught  at the music academies of Milan (1974–83), Perugia (1983–87),  and Florence (1987–96) as well as at numerous masterclasses. He  retired in 1996, dedicating himself to music theory; his books  include Le figure della musica, da Beethoven a oggi (1998) and  Carte da suono, a collection of his writings from 1981–2001.

Sciarrino matured early, creating a distinctive personal style. He  treats sound as a living organism; his music begins at the threshold of perception. The empty space breaths, creating a dramatic  tension where even the smallest event fills the listener’s mind.  Renewed perception is the objective of Sciarrino’s “ecology  of sound.” He lets the listener rediscover the spaces of nature,  everyday noises, and the miracle of the human voice. His work,  inspired by modern philosophy and science, is often challengingly unorthodox: the notion of “psychoacoustic” music, often  useful in defining music influenced by conceptualism, is insufficient to fully grasp the complex aesthetic experience of Sciarrino’s  stage and concert compositions.

Selected works (since 2000): Il clima dopo Harry Partch for  piano and orchestra (1999–2000), Studi per l’intonazione del mare  for contralto, four flutes, four saxophones, percussion, 100 flutes and 100 saxophones (2000), Due notturni crudeli for piano (2001),  In nomine nominis for eight performers (2001), Macbeth, tre atti  senza nome, opera to a libretto by the composer after Shakespeare  (2001–2), Altre schegge di canto for clarinet and orchestra (2002),  Cavatina e i gridi for string sextet (2002), Due smarrimenti for  soprano and eight instruments (2003), Graffito sul mare for trio  and orchestra (2003), String Sextet (2003), Quaderno di strada for  baritone and instruments (2003), Lohengrin 2 for soloist, instrument and voices (1982–2004), Scena di vento for instruments  (2004), Il legno e la parola for marimba and bells (2004), Il suono  e il tacere for orchestra (2004), Vento d’ombra for chamber ensemble (2005), Archeologia del telefono for 13 instruments (2005), Storie di altre storie for harmonium and orchestra (2005), Shadow of  Sound for orchestra (2005), Da gelo a gelo, opera (2006), 4 Adagi  for flute and orchestra (2007), 12 Madrigali for seven or eight  singers (2007), String Quartet no. 8 (2008), La porta della legge –  quasi un monologo circolare, opera in one act (2008), Il giardino  di Sara for soprano and instruments (2008), L’altro giardino for  voice and eight instruments (2009), Libro notturno delle voci for  flute and orchestra (2009), Superflumina, opera in one act (2010),  Fanofania for ensemble (2010), Cantiere del poema for soprano  and ten instruments (2011), Senza sale d’aspetto for female presenter and orchestra (2011), Carnaval for voices, piano and ten  performers (2011), L’ideale lucente e le pagine rubate for strings  (2012), Ombre nel mattino di Piero (String Quartet no. 9, 2012),  Perturbazione in arrivo nel settore trombe for horn and orchestra  (2012), Giorno velato presso il lago nero for violin and orchestra  (2013), Gesualdo senza parole for ensemble (2013), L’imprecisa  macchina del tempo for choir and chamber orchestra (2013–14),  L’esercizio della stravaganza for string quartet after Domenico  Scarlatti (2014), Dialoghi sull’ultima corda for two cellos (2014),  La nova Euridice secondo Rilke for soprano and orchestra (2015),  Diverbio fra mottetti, con due sogni for choir and saxophone quartet (2015), Sposalizio (transcription of Liszt’s work) for orchestra  (2015), Quando ci risvegliamo for orchestra (2015), Trovare un  equilibrio è necessario? for flute and string quartet (2015), Autostrada prima di Babilonia for flute (2015), Un capitolo mancante  for flute (2016), Immagina il deserto for voice and instruments  (2016), Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo (In attesa di Stradella), opera  in two acts (2017), Passionis fragmenta for soprano, flute, viola,  cello and organ (2017), Il sogno di Stradella for piano and instruments (2017), Stupori for baritone, flute, violin and percussion  (2018), In dono a Morricone, aria d’auguri for trombone and  orchestra (2018), Barbara’s Songbook for voice and orchestra  (2018), Piogge diverse, five songs for baritone and large orchestra  (2019), Al sognatore di cupole for chorus and instruments (2020),  Senza vento for cello (2020), Let Me Die Before I Wake, a mutation  for tenor saxophone (2021), Una lettera e 6 canti for voice and  six musicians (2022), Paesaggi con macerie for ensemble (2022),  Alba meridiana for guitar, flute and violin (2023), Love & Fury (Songbook from Stradella) for voice and orchestra (2023), Folk  Song (through Beethoven to Berio) (2023), Danze di un rivoluzionario malinconico, arrangements of Chopin for orchestra (2023),  Nocturnes for orchestra (2024), L’Agamennone, opera in two acts  (2025).