A composer of orchestral, chamber, electro acoustic, and multimedia works that have been successfully performed and awarded throughout Europe, in Asia and North America, Giorgio Magnanensi is also a renowned conductor of new music.
Magnanensi studied composition and conducting at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini (Bologna), the Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena), and the Hochschule Mozarteum (Salzburg) from 1976-88. Relevant figures in his music education were Biancamaria Furgeri, Gabriele Bellini and Franco Donatoni. He earned diplomas in choral music and conducting (Bologna, 1982) and composition (Bologna, 1986 and Rome — doctorate, 1989), as well as the Accademia Musicale Chigiana Diploma of Merit (Siena, 1987).
He has received numerous awards, including First Prize at the Zagreb Biennial (1987), Special Mention at the Alfredo Casella International Composers Competition (Italy, 1987 and 1989), First Prize at the European Biennial (Italy, 1988), First Prize at the Gino Contilli International Composers Competition for String Quartet (Italy, 1991), The Government of Canada Award (1997), The Japan Foundation Fellowship (1998) and 2nd Prize at the Pro Musica Nipponia 40th Anniversary Competition (2005). From 2000 to date he received various Canada Council for the Arts Commissioning Grants and British Columbia Art Council Commissioning Grants.
Most recently his performance/installation project Personum for interactive media and sound spatialization has been granted an Audio Production Grant from the New Media Section of the Canada Council for the Arts and it was selected for a preview at the 5th International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) held in Vancouver in May 2005.
He has served as principal conductor for the Rossini Chamber Orchestra (Busto Arsizio, 1986-91), the Ensemble NYM (Bologna, 1988-95), the Ensemble Octandre (Bologna, 1990-95), the Ensemble Musica Attuale (Bologna, 1994-95), and the Vancouver New Music Ensemble (since 2000). As a guest conductor, he has been invited to present new orchestral works in Europe, Japan and Canada and he is often requested as a specialist of contemporary music.
Giorgio Magnanensi taught composition for many years at state music conservatories in Italy, served as the assistant to Franco Donatoni who requested him as teaching assistant and conductor at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (1991-99) and at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and lectured at the Tokyo College of Music (1996 and 1998). After his emigration to Canada in 1999, he became a lecturer at the School of Music of The University of British Columbia in 2000, where he remains as a Lecturer in Contemporary Players and the Improvisation Workshop improLAB. From 2003 he is Guest Lecturer at The Vancouver Community College.
In 2000 he was appointed Artistic Director of Vancouver New Music where he has been programming and producing innovative and original new music events, concert series and festivals fostering a wide and experimental curatorial approach that gained him high appreciation from national funding agencies, musicians, performers and audiences.
He is an active live electronic performer and worked on numerous multimedia projects, workshops and events in cooperation with soloists such as George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Evan Parker, François Houle, David Moss, Gerry Hemingway, Bill Frisell, Miya Masaoka, Ron Samworth, Kees Boeke, Nanni Canale, Douglas Schmidt and Walter Zanetti, as well as with many international and Canadian experimental and new music ensembles such as Standing Wave (Vancouver), Array Music (Toronto), Continuum (Toronto) and Aventa (Victoria). He has been composing for the Wen Wei Wang Dance Company from 2003 to date. In 1992 he was the co-founder of the computer music studio MM&T (Musica Musicisti e Tecnologie) – Milan, Italy. His compositions have been published by Ricordi and Suvini & Zerboni and have been performed throughout Europe, as well as in Canada and Japan, by ensembles such as the Arditti String Quartet, Alter Ego, Pro Musica Nipponia, FontanaMIX, Array Music, Standing Wave, Aventa, Victoria Symphony Orchestra and ÖENM Salzburg.
