biography

Giovanni Verrando (Sanremo, 1965) began his musical studies in France at a very early age with the piano and the classical guitar. He later studied composition at the Conservatorio "G. Verdi" in Milan with G. Manzoni, N. Castiglioni and G. Zosi, and philosophy at the State University in Milan.
He continued his training at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with F. Donatoni, receiving Siae Prize and the Diploma of Merit in 1990.
In 1993 he moved to Paris, where he attended the "Cursus annuel d'informatique musicale" of Ircam and T. Murail’s courses. He lived here until 1997, developing as a composer his research on musical informatics.

In the '90s he received prizes in prestigious international competitions: Ircam/Ensemble Intercontemporain Comitè de lecture, Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, Festival International d’art lyrique in Aix-en-Provence, and others.

His research on language, orchestration and electronics has led to his receiving commissions from European institutions (French Ministry of Culture, Biennale di Venezia, Ircam in Parigi, MaerzMusik in Berlin, etc), and his works have been performed by orchestras, ensembles and soloists of international fame (Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai, etc).
In these years, his music has been presented at festivals and seasons all over the world: Wien Modern, Centre G. Pompidou di Parigi, Berliner Festspiele, Festival Musica in Strasbourg, Opera Bastille in Paris, Biennale di Venezia, Tonhalle in Zurich, Milano Musica, Stockholm New Music, Roma Europa, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Archipel in Geneva, Festival Ultima in Oslo, Shanghai, Warsaw, Tokyo, Royaumont, Cologne, Helsinki, Amsterdam, etc.

In April 2003 ‘Alex Brücke Langer’ was produced: it was a portrait commissioned by the Festival International d’Art Lyrique in Aix-En-Provence and by the Fondazione Nuovo Teatro Comunale in Bolzano and directed by Yoshi Oida.

He is the co-founder of RepertorioZero, an international group of musicians formed in Milan in 2007.

A new CD with orchestral works, with Orchestra Nazionale Sinfonica della Rai, was issued in early 2008.

Since 2000, he has held composition courses at the Scuola Civica in Milan.
He leads orchestration and theory of composition courses in Switzerland, Conservatory of Lugano, and seminars in Italy and abroad.
His music is published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, Milan.