Dr. Franco Sciannameo

CFA Distinguished Scholar & Teaching Professor of Music

Bio

Born in Maglie (Lecce), violinist, musicologist, and cultural historian Franco Sciannameo graduated from Rome’s Conservatorio di Musica “Santa Cecilia.” He pursued further studies at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the University of Hartford, and the University of Pittsburgh. 

Sciannameo writes and lectures extensively on contemporary music and its relation to politics, cinema, and the arts. He has worked with celebrated composers, including Giacinto Scelsi, Vieri Tosatti, Nino Rota, Franco Donatoni, Ennio Morricone, Franco Evangelisti, and Paul Chihara with whom he has collaborated on performances and recordings. His books include Nino Rota’s The Godfather Trilogy (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010); Phil Trajetta (1777-1854), Patriot, Musician, Immigrant (Hillsdale: Pendragon Press, 2010); Music as Dream: Essays on Giacinto Scelsi, edited with Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013); Experiencing the Violin Concerto: A Listener’s Companion (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); Musicians’ Migratory Patterns: The Adriatic Coasts (New York: Routledge, 2018. First issued in paperback 2020); Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone: Fame and Legacy (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2020. First issued in paperback 2022); The Aesthetical Writings of Giacinto Scelsi, edited with Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023); At the Dawn of Italian Opera in America: Phil Trajetta in Charleston (1803) and New York City (1810) (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2023); Italian Film Music, 1950-1970s: Between Tradition, Innovation, and Internationalisation, edited by Franco Sciannameo (Turnhout: Brepols, 2023); The Journey of Phil Trajetta: From Italian Political Prisoner to Free American Citizen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2024); Luigi Dallapiccola, America, and the Unlocking of Visionary Creativity, with Mario Ruffini (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2024).

More information about Franco Sciannameo’s lectures, essays and book chapters can be found at: https://francosciannameo.academia.edu